


In Just A Week//Trans Klance Fic

by Snokitten



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: M/M, klance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-21
Updated: 2018-08-29
Packaged: 2019-03-22 01:09:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 38
Words: 72,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13753077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snokitten/pseuds/Snokitten
Summary: Keith Kogane or Kathrine Kogane as his birth certificate says is an orphan who's gone from house to house since his parents died. No family can accept that he is a trans-boy. Not until he meets the Shirogane family. And not until he meets Lance McClain.





	1. Chapter 1

Their faces forever burned in his mind.

Just as burned as the old country house he used to live in.

His parents.

The smoke.

The Smoke.

The Fire.

That Damn Fire.

The roof of their old farmhouse collapsing, closing off the exit. Their faces, burning, melting in the flames.

He would never forget the image of their skin slowly melting off their faces. Horror in their eyes.

There was one thing that Keith didn't understand.

He never saw his parents when they died.

All of it was in his head.

In his nightmares.

Keith

I shot awake. But I wasn't in my bed at the home I was staying at.

I was sitting in the back of a smelly cab on my way to a new house.

I knew it wouldn't last long. Every new family I got cast me out as soon as they found out. I shouldn't get my hopes up with this one. They are no different than my other "families".

The Couple that adopted me this time were around there mid to late thirties. Lee and Mae Shirogane. They had a son a year older than me. Takashi. Takashi Shirogane. He would be attending high school with me. Him a senior, me a junior.

I had to take a cab to their house. It was far from the adoption agency, thankfully I didn't have to pay for it.

After an hour-long car ride in a disgusting taxi, we finally pulled up into the Shirogane driveway. It was a single family home, two stories, nothing too fancy. I grabbed my bag and headed to the front door. The adoption agency paid for the cab in advance so as soon as I was out it pulled out of the driveway.

I carried my red duffel bag to the front door. I took a deep breath. Hopefully, they were different.

Who are you kidding? Once they find out what you are they'll cast you out like the rest of them.

I raised my hand, but before I could knock the door swung open. A short Asian woman with black hair, that had hints of gray, stood in the doorway. She wore an apron that said Worlds Okay-est cook. I assumed she was Mae.

She smiled.

"You must be Keith. I am Mae. Welcome to your new home." She said. She gave me a hug. I'm not into hugs or any human contact, but she gave a nice hug. I didn't hug back though. Soon she would cast me out like the rest.

She led me through the house until we arrived at the living room. A man with dark hair and blue eyes sat on the couch. He didn't seem to notice us. He was too into the newspaper he was reading.

"Lee!" Mae said. Lee looked up.

"Oh, sorry. You must be Keith. Welcome to the family son." He said. He held out a hand. I shook it.

"Takashi will me eager to meet you. He's always wanted a brother." Mae said. Well, then I'm going to disappoint.

She led me to the stairs. Then something started beeping in the kitchen. Mae cursed under her breath.

"His room is straight upstairs, first door on the left." She said. Then she ran back to the kitchen.

I slowly made my way up the stairs. When I got to his door I hesitated. What if he didn't like me? What if he was a bully, like all the others families. This family seemed nicer than my old ones, but that didn't mean anything. They would throw me out sooner or later. Once they knew.

Then I knocked on the door.

"I already did the dishes mom." A voice called from inside. Then the door opened. Takashi was tall and muscular. He had dark gray eyes that had a friendly look to them. His hair was black with a white forelock. He had a scar across the bridge of his nose. He also had amazing eyeliner. His face resembled his dad's, but younger and more handsome.

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were mom." He said.

"What gave me away?" I said quietly. He laughed.

"You must be Keith. I'm Takashi, but everyone calls me Shiro." Shiro said. He held out his hand. I hesitated. I don't like human contact much. But

I didn't want to seem rude so I shook it. Shiro smiled.

"Why don't we put your bag in your room," Shiro said.

"I...I get my own room?" I asked. Shiro laughed.

"Of course you do. You didn't think we'd make you sleep in the basement or something did you?" Shiro asked.

"Wouldn't be my first time," I said under my breath.

He opened the door across the hall. The room was fairly empty. A queen size bed, with a black and red comforter, was in one corner. Next to it was a dresser. In another corner was a desk with a computer. I had never gotten a computer before. I waited for Shiro to say 'oh how did that get in here' or 'Oops sorry. That's not for you.' Like all my other families did. But he didn't. Above the desk was a poster for My Chemical Romance.

"I heard that you liked them. So I got that for you." Shiro said.

"Thank you," I said. Why was he being so nice? Maybe so when the insults came, it would hurt even more.

"How did you get that scar?" I asked without meaning to. "Sorry."

He laughed.

"Its ok, I get that a lot. Long story short, A Friend and I were being idiots." He said. I nodded.

I set my bag down by my dresser and sat on the bed. It was actually comfortable. My last family gave me a sleeping bag. The one before gave me a cardboard box.

I felt my eyes start to tear up slightly. Shiro sat across from me.

"Are you okay Keith?" He asked, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"Why are you so nice to me? Why did your parents give me these nice things?" I asked. Shiro smiled.

"It's because we care about you. Your one of us now. We're going to take care of you." Shiro said. He hugged me. I didn't pull away, but I didn't hug back. As I said, hugs aren't my thing.

"Thank you," I said. He smiled.

"I'm going to let you get settled in. I'll call you for dinner." Shiro said. Then he left my room, shutting the door behind him. As soon as I heard his door close I started to put my clothes into my dresser. I hid my binders beneath my other clothes.

That's right, you've heard that right. Binders.

I was born a girl.

I knew I was a boy, even I wasn't born that way. So I hid it.

Legally I was Kathy Kogane. But nobody knew that. Well, almost nobody. My old families knew. My last one walked in on me changing. My little brother ratted to mom and dad telling them I had boobs and no dick. The family before that found a pair of my boxers stained in period blood. This time I would hide it better.

So I hid my feminine products under my boxers. I also unpacked the few things I had. A pair of Bluetooth headphones, several CDs from my favorite bands. Some books, my sketchbook, and a knife my birth mom gave to me before she died. I hid that with my products.

I decided to draw until dinner was ready. I didn't know what I was going to draw yet, so I left my fingers to guide me. Without meaning to I ended up drawing Shiro. I often drew people who I considered friends. I hardly knew Shiro but I felt like I knew him my whole life.

 

Underneath it was the word:

Brother?

There was a knock on my door. Then Shiro walked in.

"Dinners done." He said. Then he saw my sketchbook.

"You draw?" He asked. I nodded. He gestured to the book. I handed it to him. When he saw the picture he smiled.

"Your really good, but I look a lot worse than that." He said smiling. I let a small smile escape. He handed the book back to me.

"Thank you. It's not that good." I muttered.

"Are you kidding? It's amazing. There's an awesome art class at Voltron High. You should take it. One of my friends is taking it." Shiro said. I smiled a little more. Then I looked down at my sketch. Where it said, Brother? I erased the question mark and followed Shiro down to dinner.


	2. Chapter 2

The next morning Shiro woke me up.

That's right, it's Monday. The first day of school.

"Five more minutes Shiro," I complained, rolling over. He pulled one of my headphones off my ear.

"Come on. If you hurry, I'll buy you coffee." Shiro said. I guess he knew all the right words because as soon as I heard coffee I jumped out of bed and went to my dresser, Shiro leaving me.

I ended up wearing my usual outfit. A pair of black skinny jeans, dark gray short sleeve t-shirt, red boots, and my signature red and white cropped jacket.

In the corner of the room was a simple black backpack full of school supplies. I slipped my sketchbook inside of it. Then I grabbed my phone and earbuds and went downstairs. Shiro waited for me at the door. I followed him out and he got into a black pick up truck. I sat shotgun.

On our way to school, he bought us coffee. I got a peppermint mocha, despite it being September. Shiro got a Caramel mocha and an Iced tea. When I asked him about the iced tea he simply said,

"It's for one of my friends."

When we pulled up to the school a girl with white hair, blue eyes, and dark skin waved at us, or rather Shiro. We walked over to her. Shiro handed her the Iced Tea.

"Hello, Shiro. Had a nice summer?" She asked she had a distinct British accent.

"Yeah, I did. Allura, this is my brother Keith, Keith this is my friend Allura." Shiro said. I shook Allura's hand.

"Nice to meet you Allura," I said.

"Likewise," Allura said.

"Where are the others?" Shiro asked Allura.

"I saw Pidge earlier. She wants us to all meet in the library. Haven't seen Lonce or Hunk yet. And Coran graduated last year." Allura said. Shiro nodded. They both walked into the school. I followed awkwardly, I was used to being the third wheel, that is when I did hang out with people.

Once we got to the library we went to a table in the back, where a short girl with light brown hair, brown eyes, and big glasses that reminded me of Harry Potter. She was hunched over a laptop with a pair of green headphones on. Shiro and Allura sat down next to her. I sat next to Shiro awkwardly. I didn't bother to check my phone. I had no friends to text anyways.

The girl, who I assumed was Pidge, didn't notice us.

"Pidge," Shiro said. Nothing.

"Pidge!" He repeated. She looked up and glared at Shiro.

"I'm trying to get into the school's system to change my schedule, I am not taking gym again," Pidge said. Shiro rolled his eyes.

"Talk to the counselor." He suggested. This time Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Don't even get me started on the counselor." She muttered. Then she saw me.

"Who's this? New kid?" She asked.

"He's my new brother," Shiro said. Pidge held out a hand.

"I'm Katie Holt. But everyone calls me Pidge." Pidge said. I shook her hand.

"Keith, Keith Ko-" I started to say my birth last name but I stopped myself. Did Shiro's family want me to use their last name? All my other families didn't think I deserved to take their last name. Did they want me to be Keith Shirogane?

"Just Keith," I said. Pidge nodded.

"Guys! We're all having a movie night at my house! This Friday. For the new school year. And for Shiro's brother. So he can get to know us." Pidge said excitedly. She was very loud for such a small person.

"Can't wait. I'll have to see if Coran can come. He's so busy with college. My poor cousin." Allura said. Shiro smiled.

"Well, don't pressure him. I doubt he wants to hang out with a bunch of high-schoolers." Shiro said. Allura was about to respond but was cut off by the doors to the library slamming open.

"LANCEY LANCE IS IN DA HOUSE!" Said a tall, what I was guessing was Hispanic,  male. He had blue eyes and brown hair he wore a green jacket and blue jeans. Next to him was a bigger guy with an orange headband. I didn't pay attention to him much because I was too busy watching the boy. He was gorgeous. His eyes sparkled. And his smile was beautiful.

The librarian shushed him. He rolled his eyes.

I noticed he was walking towards us. I pulled my attention back to Pidge. Please tell me he wasn't walking this way.

Then Shiro said something that made things even worse.

"Lance we're over here," Shiro said waving at the boy.

Oh no, oh no, oh no. 

The boy, Lance, sat across from us, flipping the chair backward and resting his arms on the back of the chair. The other guy sat down next to him. I avoided eye contact. But he wasn't looking at me anyways.

"Hey. How was everyone's summer?" The guy in yellow asked. Shiro was about to answer when Lance interrupted him.

"Well, my summer was great. I went back to Cuba for a bit. Relaxed on the beach. A lot of chicks. I swear I got like twenty numbers this year." Lance said. Oh, he was that kind of guy. This made me like him less. Or I wish it did.

"Are you going to actually call any of them ladykiller?" Pidge asked.

"Pfft. Are you crazy? I'm not going to do the whole long distance thing." Lance said. Then he saw me.

"Who's the girl with the mullet?" He asked. How did he know!?

I was about to freak out when Shiro said something.

"This is my new brother," Shiro said. Lance smirked.

"He looks like a newborn. Except babies are cute." Lance said. I clenched my fists.

"He's my adopted brother idiot," Shiro said, as he hit Lance in the head with a book.

"I'm Hunk and this is Lance." Said the bigger guy with the headband.

"I'm the cool one. What's your name Mullet?" Lance said.

"It's not a Mullet," I said through gritted teeth.

"Whatever. What's your name?" Lance asked again.

"Why should I tell you!?" I said, my anger rising.

"Because I asked you, Mullet!" Lance said standing up, challenging me.

"I'm not going to answer to a jerk!" I said standing up, matching his challenge. We stared at each other in the eye. He smirked. I pushed away from the table storming out of the library.


	3. Chapter 3

Shiro went after me, but I lost him in the swarm of students. But as I escaped Shiro I also managed to lose myself in the labyrinth of the school. Teens all around me, chatting with there friends, or taking selfies or...god forbid....dabbing. Ewww.

I didn't want to have to talk to anyone so I just wandered the halls. Everyone at this school looked so mean. Eventually, I found someone who looked like they could help. She was a tall blonde girl with perfectly straightened hair. Her clothes made her look like Regina George from Mean Girls. She was handing out flyers. That said, Leadership is The Club to Join! 

I walked up to her.

"Excuse me, can you help me? I'm trying to find the main office." I said. She looked at the girl next to her.

"Did I say I that this thing could talk to me, Stephanie?" She said. Stephanie shook her head.

"I don't know what it is Lindsey. Whatever it is, it needs to leave. This is a popular people only hallway. The losers hang out in there." Stephanie pointed to a room across the quad that had a pencil and paper over it. I was guessing it was the art room.

"What are you still doing here mullet boy? Get out of my hall." Lindsey said. She had that stereotypical popular girl attitude. I wanted to punch her but I restrained myself. We were both girls, but I was definitely stronger than her. And I'm willing to bet that she had a rich parent who would sue me if I touched a little hair on her ugly fucking face.

I walked to the art room, maybe someone there could help me.

Once I walked in I noticed everyone was pretty much in groups. Everyone except one girl. She sat in the corner of the room, a pair of pink headphones covered her ears and some of her straight, long, reddish-brown, hair. Her hair mostly obscured her face. She wore blackish-gray ripped jeans and a purple hoodie. She drew on a sketch pad but ended up ripping up everything she had drawn. I decided if I wanted any help, she'd probably be the person to talk to.

"Hey, do you think you could help me," I said, tapping on her shoulder. She looked up.

"Huh?" She said, taking off her headphones.

"I'm kinda lost. Do you think you can help me." I said. She smiled.

"Sure. You're probably looking for the main office." The girl said. She stood up, putting her sketchpad in her backpack.

"I'm Cassie by the way." The girl said, extending her hand.

"Keith," I said, shaking it.

We walked through the quad and into another hallway. She steered clear of the "Popular Hallway". When I asked her about it she simply said,

"Too many whores wanting to suck their way through high school."

And that was the end of that conversation.

Once we got to the main office she said goodbye and went back to the art room. The lady behind the counter wore a headset and was doing twenty things at once.

I waited for her to notice me.

Nothing.

I cleared my throat.

Nothing.

"Excuse me," I said. She glared in my direction.

"Yes?" She said irritated.

"I'm new here. I need my schedule." I said. She rolled her eyes.

"Then why didn't you go to the counselor?" She said.

"I...I didn't know...." I said.

"Down the hall!" The lady said. I walked through the hallway behind her to a door labeled, Counselor's Office.

I knocked on the door.

"Come in." A voice said. I opened the door. An older man sat behind a desk sorting through papers.

"I'm new....and I need my schedule," I said.

"Name?"

"Keith."

"Last name." He said. I hesitated.

"Shirogane," I said. That probably what they registered me as.

"No Keith Shirogane. I have a Takashi Shirogane and A Keith   
Kogane-Shirogane." He said.

"It's Kogane-Shirogane then," I said. He nodded, handing me a slip of paper. And a school map.

"Have a nice day. And Welcome to Voltron High school Keith." The counselor said. I left his office, looking at my schedule.

Period 1: Advanced Art Room 106 Miss. Chase

Period 2: World History Room 224   
Mrs. McClean

Period 3: English Room 87 Mr. Zhang

Period 4: Boys Weight Training   
Mr. Grace

Lunch

Period 5: Advanced Calculus Room 142 Mrs. Levesque

Period 6: Advanced Physics Room 12  
Mr. Jackson

Period 7: Advanced Drawing Room 107 Mr. Di Angelo

Period 8: Spanish Room 101 Miss. Ramirez-Arellano

Huh. Two art classes. I guess they just knew I like to draw.

At least I knew where to go. All the art rooms were in the same place.

I got to the right classroom and sat in the back. The bell didn't ring for another 5 minutes. I pulled out my sketchbook and started to draw. 

"Alright everyone, welcome to Advanced Art. I am Your teacher Miss Chase." The teacher said. She wrote her name on the board.

"Today class we're going to be working on-" She was cut off by someone walking in.

"Sorry I'm late, this school is way to big to get around." The person said.

"Please just take your seat. There is an open one in the back." The teacher said. I didn't look up, but I heard the seat next to me be filled by whoever was late.

"So, you come here often?" The guy whispered to me. I looked up and saw none other than Lance.

I glared at him. Then went back to my drawing. The teacher started to call role.

"You never told me your name," Lance said. I continued to ignore him.

"Keith Kogane-Shirogane?" The teacher said, calling role.

"Here," I said miserably. Lance smirked.

"Huh. Keith, that's not as cool as Lance." Lance said. I shot him a look then went back to my sketch.

"Just because we sit next to each other doesn't mean you need to talk to me 'Ladykiller'." I said. I said air quoting the nickname.

"Today class, you will be drawing your table partner, make sure you communicate with your partner and try your best. You have until the end of class. If you don't finish, you can work on it tomorrow." The teacher said.

Lance looked at me and smiled.

"So do you want to do this like those art things where one of us gets naked?" Lance said, winking at me.

"I don't want to barf on my first day," I said. I flipped my sketchbook to an empty page and started drawing. Lance did the same. We occasionally looked at each other for reference.

My end result wasn't too bad. I didn't try too hard because I didn't really care.

Then I waited for Lance to finish his.

"Why did you make me look so feminine?" I asked.

"I don't know, you remind me of a girl." He said shrugging.

"I am not a girl," I said firmly, glaring at him.

"Geez. No need to get all sensitive. Is it your time of the month?" He asked.

"Shut up," I said.

"I see that I was right," Lance said.

"I said shut up!" I snapped. He smirked.

"Ok Keithy." He said.

"Keithleen. Keitlin." He teased. I clenched my fists.

"Stop. I'm warning you." I said.

"Kei-Kei. Keitrina, Keithlynn, Keithrine." He continued. At the last one, I slammed my fist into his face. It made contact with his left cheek.

He stumbled backward. Then his stupid smirk fell into a scowl.

"Oh, I know you didn't just do that!" He said. Then he swung at me. I ducked, but I didn't duck fast enough and he hit me. I tackled him and started punching him in the face. We exchanged blow after blow until someone pulled me off of him.

"You two are going to the principal's office!" The teacher said. She grabbed us by the back of our jackets and dragged us to the principal's office.

Lance and I sat in chairs opposite the principal.

"Ah, Lance McClain. It's no surprise that you're in my office again. Try to sneak in the girl's locker room again I presume?" The principal said.

"It wasn't my fault this time Zarkon. Keith started it." Lance said.

"That's Mr. Zarkon, McClain! Keep this up and I'll call your parents." The principal said. Lance went silent.

"Why don't you explain to me what happened." He said pointing to me.

I glanced at Lance. He was being silent. Something was wrong with him. He would have said something.

"Nothing happened," I said. Crossing my arms.

"Your nose is bloody and McClain has a black eye. Clearly, something happened." Mr. Zarkon said. I leaned in closer to him.

"Do you really want to fill out all the forms about in two teen boys fighting. Or would you rather just forget it happened and avoid the hassle?" I said. I looked him in the eye.

"You must be new. I'll let you off with detention as well as McClain. If you ever fight again I will be forced to call your parents." Mr. Zarkon said. He eyed me strangely.

Lance and I nodded.

"What your name?" Mr. Zarkon asked.

"Kogane sir. Keith Kogane-Shirogane." I said. But the sir was with anything except respect. This principal clearly wasn't a good guy.

"Hmm." Mr. Zarkon went back to a filing cabinet and searched it. Then pulled out a small file. He set it on the desk and started to read it.

"Hmm, not much on you Kogane. You've had about 12 different families. Each of them rejecting you. Your birth parents died...Did you have a sister?" Mr. Zarkon asked.

"I've had a lot of sisters," I said.

"I mean a birth sister. We have an honor roll certificate for a Kathy Kogane. It's dated back to 7 years ago." Mr. Zarkon said. I shuddered. I had removed all evidence of Kathy Kogane in my last school. I broke into the principal's office and destroyed every last document that had the name, Kathy. I even managed to make a fake birth certificate and drivers license. Kathy should have been gone.

"Y-Yes. She died, with my parents." I said quietly.

There was a long moment of silence.

"You two will be attending after-school detention together until the end of the week." Mr. Zarkon said, "You may return to class."

He continued to look at my file. Lance and I got up and walked out of the office.

"Hey man, thanks for covering for me. I'm sorry for teasing you." Lance said as we walked down the hall.

"Just because I covered for you doesn't mean we're friends," I said.

"Woah, chill out man. I was just apologizing. This is the part where you say you're sorry for hitting me. Then we can go back to being rivals or whatever." Lance said. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, I know you can do it. Just say sorry." Lance said.

"I'm sorry that I punched your cheek and didn't punch your fat mouth to shut you up," I said. He glared at me.

"That's the best you'll get Ladykiller," I said smirking. The smirk quickly turned back into a scowl.

"L-Listen, I'm sorry about your parents..and your sister. I guess I can say that I know how you feel, somewhat." Lance said. The apology sounded genuine. Why was he being decent for once? I mean, I wasn't complaining, but Why?

I didn't respond to him.

"Are you ok Keith?" He asked.

"Why were you so silent after he threatened to call your parents?" I asked, eager to pull the subject off of me.

"What?" He said.

"When the principal threatened to call your parents, why did you stay so quiet afterward?" I asked.

"Oh, that. N-No reason." He said. He was clearly lying, but I didn't push it. As we passed a bathroom I realized there was still blood on my face.

"I'm going to wash my face," I said, pointing to the bathroom.

"I probably should too." He said. He followed me into the boy's bathroom. I was hoping he wouldn't but he did. We went to the sink and washed out faces in the cold water. After we finished we headed back to class.

"It's period 3, what do you have?" Lance asked.

"English. Mr. Zhang." I said, looking at my schedule.

"Looks like you'll have a few buddies. Pidge, Hunk, and I have that too." Lance said. I rolled my eyes.

"Grreeaat. More of you. That's what I want." I said sarcastically. He narrowed his eyes at me but didn't say anything. So we walked to class in silence.


	4. Chapter 4

Lance

We made it to the third period on time. Keith was really quiet the whole period. I, on the other hand, was talking to Pidge and Hunk.

"So where'd you get that shiner?" Hunk asked.

"Probably fell down the stairs again. Or ran into a pole, he does that a lot." Pidge said.

"No, Keith and I got into a fight in art. You think this is bad you should see him." I said. Keith, who sat in front of us turned around.

"Yeah, I have a lot fewer bruises than you do," Keith said.

"Shut up mullet," I said. He rolled his eyes and turned back around.

"Why did you fight," Hunk asked.

"Doesn't matter," I said. I don't know why, but I didn't mention anything about his parents or sister. I knew the only reason why that asshole Zarkon brought it up was bug Keith since Keith outsmarted him. I also felt like Keith wouldn't appreciate me telling people without him saying I could.

"Did the principal threaten to suspend you?" Pidge asked.

"Zarkon gave us detention that was it. For the rest of the week." I said.

"Wow, how did you pull that off?" Pidge asked.

"I was just quick with my words," I said.

"Keith did something didn't he?" Hunk said.

"Hey! I can convince Zarkon to lay off." I said.

"No, you can't. He suspended you last year for bringing a knife to school. And when you said it was for a school project, he suspended you an extra day." Pidge said I glared at her.

"What do you have next?" Hunk asked.

"Boys Weight Training. You guys?" I asked.

"Same." Hunk said.

"I have Advanced Computer Apps." Pidge said, "Maybe if I hack into the teacher's computer, it will be enough to get me out of that class. I already know everything they teach."

"Let's refrain from breaking the school rules until after the first month." Hunk said. Then he looked at me. "Again."

The rest of the class was easy. It was the whole 'Welcome to my class. This is what we will be doing this year. Blah blah blah, don't forget to get this signed by your parents so you can go on the field trip next week.'

As he passed out the permission form I forged my parents signature, it was much easier than simply asking them. Hunk and Pidge didn't seem to notice. But Keith did. He looked at me, then the paper. Then shook his head and rolled his eyes.

The bell rang. Hunk and I went to the boy's locker room and began to change into our gym clothes. We went over what to do in orientation last week before school started. So we were ready in seconds. Mr. Grace was a nice teacher, but he was strict. He wouldn't allow anyone to be late. So after Hunk and I were dressed, we went to the weight room.

"Hello Class. I'm Mr. Grace, and this is boys weight training. All of you know me from orientation. In this class, we will be learning how to properly lift weights without injury. Last year, only one person went to the hospital." Mr. Grace said.

Hunk and I snickered, remembering the incident last year.

"We will also be learning-" Mr. Grace was cut off by someone walking in late.

"Sorry, I'm late. I got lost. Is this boys weight training?" Said a familiar mullet. Keith stood at the door.

"Why aren't you dressed down?" Mr. Grace asked.

"I'm new. I didn't know where the locker room was." Keith said.

"McClain! Please show the newbie to the locker room, get him a locker and gym clothes." Mr. Grace said. Keith and I looked at each other.

"I'm sure he can figure it out himself," I said. Mr. Grace glared at me.

"Fine." I walked back to the door and led Keith to the locker room.

"You just can't get enough of me can you?" I said.

"S-Shut up Lance." He said. I smirked.

When we got to the locker room I went into the office to grab Keith his gym clothes.

"You're what, a medium?" I asked. He nodded. I threw him a Voltron high gym shirt and basketball shorts. He stood their, holding them.

"What are you waiting for, get dressed already," I said. He shifted uncomfortably.

"Is there a place I can get dressed?" He asked quietly.

"Yeah, it's called right here. What wrong with you? Have you never changed in a locker room!?" I asked.

"I've never changed in a boys locker room before okay?" He snapped. Then his eyes widened.

"What do you mean 'a boys locker room'? Have you changed in a girl locker room?" I asked. He shook his head.

"I meant, I've never changed in a locker room." He said.

"Well, it's simple. Everyone dresses down here." I said. Why was he so scared of dressing down.

"I just don't like the idea of you watching me change ok." Keith said, "I'm going to change in the bathroom."

He walked to the bathroom about two minutes later, holding his other clothes.

"Now I need a locker. Preferably not one near you." He said.

"Just find an empty one. I'll get you a lock." I said. He turned to find a locker. I went and grabbed him a combination lock. When he wasn't looking, I took a picture of his combination. He was acting weird and I would get to the bottom of it.

"Here," I said tossing him the lock. He unlocked it in one try, put his clothes in his new locker, then re-locked it.

"It's a shame. I was looking forward to seeing you strip." I teased. His face went red.

"Let's just go back to the gym Ladykiller." He said. I nodded and led him back up to the weight room.

Everyone was already at their benches. Hunk was standing by himself waiting for me. When we got back Mr. Grace walked up to us.

"Because we have an odd number of students. You, Hunk, and The Newbie will be in a group together." Mr. Grace said, "We're doing bench presses today."

I sighed. I couldn't seem to get away from Keith, could I?

"Hey, guys." Hunk said.

"Hey, we're doing bench presses," I said. I sat on the bench.

"I'll go first. Hunk you spot me." I said. Hunk walked around and stood on the other side of the bar. I laid down under the pull.

"Keith, can you put forty-five on each side?" I said. He nodded and put a weight on each side.

"So, that's a forty-five-pound bar with ninety added. I'm lifting one thirty-five." I said. I grabbed the bar and lifted. I did ten reps then put the bar on the rack.

"Ok, this is easy. Give me twenty-five more on each side." I said.

"Are you sure, that's one eighty-five." Hunk said.

"Please, last year I could do two hundred easy," I said. They added the weights.

This time I struggled slightly but managed to do ten more.

"Ok, the big two-O-O," I said.

"Are you sure Lance. Maybe you should stop at this." Hunk said.

"Nope. I'm doin' it." I said. They added the remaining fifteen pounds.

As soon as I started to lift, I knew there was no going back.

I just barely managed to do ten. But I did it. I sat up, wiping sweat from my face.

"Hunk, can you start me out with one fifty," Keith said.

"Didn't know you were such a girl Keith," I said. He glared at me. But there was something in his eyes. Worry. Maybe he was worried he couldn't beat me. It almost seemed like something else.

"You know what hunk. I want two-twenty on mine." Keith said.

"Two Twenty!? Are you sure Keith? I mean, that's a lot and your not exactly the buffest guy here." Hunk said.

"Just do it Hunk," Keith repeated. Hunk nodded and put the weights on.

Keith slid under the bar and placed his hands on it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then he lifted it. And did....twenty!? He did twenty reps. When he got up sweat dripped down his face. He grabbed a cloth and wiped it off. Then smirked at me.

"Who's the girl now? Lancey Lance?" Keith teased. Inside, I smiled at the nickname. My mom used to call me that. But on the outside I was pissed. That scrawny piece of eye candy just beat me. Oh, I am so going to beat him tomorrow.

"Alright, class, time to dress down. You can shower if you want, but I can't promise you'll get to your next class in time." Mr. Grace said.

We walked back to the locker room. I noticed Keith walk into the bathroom to change. I turned to hunk.

"What is his problem? Why doesn't he change with the rest of us?" I asked.

"Why do you care? Two other boys do it and you don't say a word. Now all of the sudden you care?" Hunk said.

"I don't care. I just don't get why he doesn't change out here?" I asked.

"Then why are you still talking about him," Hunk asked. I felt my face go red.

"I'm not!" I said. I closed my locker, me and Hunk walked out to lunch.

Shiro, Allura, Pidge, and Pidge's older brother Matt were waiting for us in the lunch room. Matt had met us in the library after Keith left.

"Where's my brother? And what happened to your face?" Shiro asked.

"Keith was taking a long time in the locker room," I said.

"Yeah, he and Keith got in a fight in the first period," Pidge said.

"Really Lance? It's his first day and you started a fight?" Shiro said angrily.

"Hey, he threw the first punch. We figured it out though. We don't hate each other." I said. Keith walked into the lunch room. Shiro waved him over.

"Hey Keith, my main man!" I said, holding up a high five. He held up the middle finger and sat down.

"Yeah, that's totally not hating each other," Pidge said

"How has your first day been?" Shiro asked.

"Well, I got to beat up Lance and bench Twenty more than him so I'd say it's pretty good," Keith said. I glared at him.

Matt introduced himself to Keith. Pidge and Hunk started talking technology.

Keith started to check his phone. I leaned across the table.

"You got Snapchat?" I asked. He looked up from his phone.

"Yeah. Why?" He asked.

"Here give me your phone," I said. He hesitantly handed me his phone.

I entered my name into his Snapchat. Then took a selfie and on his story, with the or caption hacked by a hot guy.

Then I handed his phone back to him. He slipped it into his pocket.

"So, you and Keith have detention?" Shiro asked.

"Yep," I said.

"Then you're going to have to walk home. I have baseball practice after school. I'm captain this year." Shiro said.

"Dang it, I'm missing practice. Please tell me I can still be on the team after my week of detention is up." I said.

"As long as you don't attack my brother again," Shiro said.

"No promises. He threw the first punch." I said. Shiro rolled his eyes.

"You play baseball?" Keith asked Shiro.

"Yeah, have been since freshman year." Shiro said, "But Lance is definitely our best player."

Keith pointed at me and made a face like, 'Seriously? This guy?' 

"Yeah, he has the best batting average on the whole team." Shiro said, "Do you play?"

"No, I was never good at baseball," Keith said.

"That's too bad, if you were a baseball player, I'd let you catch my fly balls," I said winking at him. He turned back to Shiro.

"What else do you guys play?" He asked.

"Lance does swimming. I just play baseball." Shiro said.

"Yeah, I know my way around the bases," I said, winking again.

"Stop with the pickup lines, Lance," Shiro said.

"What? I was just letting Keith know he has options." I said innocently.

"Yes yes lance, we all know your Bi," Pidge said. Keith looked up from his food when she said that. Then looked back down at it a second later.

"I got Algebra II next period. Anyone else?" I asked.

"I do. You can be my partner." Hunk said

"I got Chemistry," Pidge said.

"I have Pre-calculus," Allura said.

"So do I," Shiro said.

"I have English," Matt said.

"I have Advanced Calculus," Keith said. We all stared at him.

"What?"

"Calculus is a senior class. Advanced Calculus is an advanced senior class. Even Shiro isn't taking that." I said.

"I guess I'm just smarter than you," Keith said. I rolled my eyes.

"I'm sure the counselor made a mistake." I said.

"Well, I took advanced Algebra II last year, Advanced Geometry in my freshman year, and I took algebra 1 in middle school," Keith said.

"Whatever," I mumbled.

Then the bell rang and lunch ended.


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of the day flew by. Before I knew it, Keith and I were sitting in detention. Mr. Zarkon was watching us.

Keith was reading silently. I tried to do some homework but couldn't focus, so pulled my phone out and went into the group chat.

I was kind of glad they couldn't see the names I gave them.

Me-Hey

Marshmallow- Hey Lance how's detention?

Me- boring zarkon is here

Marshmallow- You should probably put your phone away then. He might take it away again.

Me- yeah last time he took it away he was only doing it to see those pictures of the girls in the locker room. I bet he sent them to himself.

Marshmallow- He's not that much of a creep.

Pidgeon- He is though. I hacked his computer last year, remember what we found.

Marshmallow- Oh yeah. That was gross.

Dad- Lance, put your phone away before Zarkon takes it.

Zelda- So are we still on for movies at Pidge's this weekend?

Matte- As long as I can join

Pidgeon- Yeah, whatever Matt.

Matte- :)

Emo Trash- why did you add me to this group...

Me- your apart of the group now ;)

Dad- you're a member of the family now.

Me- I got a member you can-

Emo Trash- I'm muting you.

I put my phone down and winked at Keith. He rolled his eyes and went back to his book.

I scrolled through Instagram and Facebook for a while. Then, when Zarkon said we could finally go home I left the classroom as soon as possible. I did wait for Keith.

Shiro's house was on the way to mine so I didn't mind walking with Keith.

"So...got any siblings?" Keith asked trying to start a conversation. I hesitated. For me, that was a hard question.

"No. Just me," I said. Siblings were a difficult topic.

"What are your parents like?" He asked.

"They are amazing. I really like them both." I said, "What were your parents like...I mean before they....you know." I added, eager to get the conversation off of my own parents.

Keith shot me a warning glance that said the topic was off limits.

"Sorry," I said. Keith nodded.

I noticed we were getting closer to Shiro's house. We didn't talk until we got to it.

"I'll see you tomorrow man," I said. Keith nodded, and walked up the porch and walked inside.

As soon as he was gone, dread filled my chest. I had to go home now. Home alone. 

On my way, I checked my mail.   
I walked up to my apartment and unlocked the door. It was dark. I didn't bother turning on the lights. The electricity bill came out of my pocket and rent on top of that cost a lot. I've considered getting a roommate but it's a one bedroom apartment.

As I walked into the kitchen I pressed play on my answering machine for my home phone as I flipped through my mail.

"You have one new message: Hey Lance, it's Sharon from Shady Oaks Old Folks Center. I wanted to inform you that your grandmother passed away this morning in her sleep. Please call us back at xxx-xxx-xxxx, for details on the funeral date and other matters. We are so sorry for your loss. *BEEP* End of message." 

I dropped my mail. Abeula was...dead? My Abuela was actually dead. I instantly called back.

"Shady Oaks Old Folks Center, this is Sharon."

"Hi Sharon, it's Lance."

"Oh, hello Lance. I'm so sorry for your loss. Your grandmother was a nice lady."

"It's...It's Ok. I just wanted to get the funeral arrangements taken care of. Then there's the matter of her will."

"We've taken care of most of the details regarding the funeral. The will, well it isn't much since she sold her house but she did leave you something. We want to do the funeral on Sunday morning. We need you to sign a couple of forms. We couldn't get your...parents...to sign them so we need you to."

"I understand. I'll be there tomorrow, I have work again tonight."

"Again, I am sorry for your loss."

"I know. Thank you for calling me."

"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow Lance." With that, I hung up.

She can't be dead, she just can't be. 

I remember the last time I talked to her, only a year ago. Right after...the accident.

"Abuela, will she be all right?" I had asked her while sitting in the waiting room of Shady Oaks Hospital. 

"I don't know Nieto, Sophia is strong but I don't think even she can survive this." My grandmother said. 

Sophia, my little sister. My only sibling, she was only two years younger than me. Being 14 at the time. She got in a car accident with my mother and father. She was in a coma for 2 months before she died. But that was only part of what had happened. 

I was shaken out of my memories when my phone went off. I answered it.

"Hey, Hunk."

"Hey, you want to hang out or something. My mom is out of town for a while."

"No, I have work again today. Maybe another time."

"You sound upset, what's wrong. Do you want me to make you some cookies or something?"

"Its nothing really. I just found out my Abeula died."

"What happened!?"

I explained to him what had happened.

After I finished I had to get off the phone and get ready for work.

I grabbed my keys and headed out the door.


	6. Chapter 6

Keith

When I got home Mae was cleaning around the house.

"Welcome home Keith, how was your first day?" She asked.

"It was ok. I got in a small fight, but we figured it out." I said, "Where is Lee?"

She smiled, "He's working. He doesn't get off until 6. We're having Tacos tonight. If you don't want any I can make you something else." Mae said.

"Tacos sound perfect," I said. She smiled. Then handed me something. It was money.

"I noticed your room needed some decor, here's a little spending money so you can make it your own." She said.

"R-really? You're serious? You're giving me money to spend on me?" I stuttered. No one had ever given me money for me.

"Of course, I wouldn't just let your room be empty like that. You deserve a nice room just like anyone else in this family." Mae said.

"That's the nicest thing a family has ever done for me. Thanks...mom." I said, awkwardly. She pulled me in for a hug.

"Your welcome son." She said. She handed me the keys to her car.

"You have your license right?" She asked. I nodded.

"Just be back before 6:30 alright?" She said.

"I will," I said. Then I walked out the door.

I went to 3 different stores, found some posters and other stuff. When I finished it was only five thirty. Hmm. One hour to kill.

My phone vibrated.

Shiro- Hey, mom said you had the car can you pick me up practice is over.

I texted him back.

Me-Sure, be there in a second.

I pulled out of Wal-Mart and drove to the school.

When I got to the school Shiro was waiting for me out front.

"What took you so long?" He asked as he got into the car.

"I was at the store when you texted me," I said.

Shiro nodded.

"How did practice go?" I asked.

"Really good. Although it would be better if we had Lance with us." Shiro said.   
"How was shopping?" Shiro asked.

"It was good," I said.

"How was your first day?" He asked.

"It was ok. Not a lot of homework which is good." I said. Shiro nodded.

"Lucky, seniors got a lot of homework." He said.

When we got home I took my stuff to my room and started to decorate. I guess the girl inside me took over because it actually looked good when I finished.

"Wow, looks pretty good. If I didn't know any better I'd say you were actually a woman." Shiro said from the doorway. He laughed. I laughed nervously.

"Yeah..." I said awkwardly. He smiled.

"Mom said dinners ready." He said. I nodded and walked to the dining room with him.

After dinner, I decided to hang with Shiro for a bit. His room was simple, queen size bed in the corner, TV with a couple gaming consoles, a desk in the corner, a few baseball posters, and a large frame filled with pictures of Pidge, Hunk, Allura, Lance, Matt, and a ginger guy with a mustache who I assumed was Coran, Allura's cousin.

We talked for about thirty minutes. He mostly told me about his friends.

"Matt and I have been friends ever since preschool. And I met Allura in middle school. I met Pidge through Matt, and Lance and Hunk through Pidge." He explained, "What about You? What we're your old friends and family like?"

"I never really had friends. And my old families never liked me." I said.

"What? You never had any friends? Why?" He asked.

"I just prefer to be alone. A lot of people don't like me." I said quietly.

I felt an arm wrap around my shoulders.

"Well, that's going to change. You have friends and a family who cares about you." He said.

"For now," I said under my breath.

"What was that?" Shiro said.

"Oh, nothing. Just tired." I faked a yawn, "I think I'm going to go to bed."

"Ok, do you want to take a shower before I hop in?" He asked.

"I'll take one in the morning," I said. He nodded and I went into my room, changing into my pajamas. Then I crawled into bed and managed to drift off.

When I woke up I hopped into the shower. It didn't take long, the hot water was comforting in the cold bathroom. When I got out I stood in front of the mirror combing my fingers through my long, wet, hair. With my towel wrapped around my chest and my hair straight against my head, I looked more like a girl than ever. My reflection scared me so much I stumbled backward.

"Keith are you ok in there?" I heard Shiro say from the other side of the door.

"Yeah. I'm fine." I said quickly. I heard the door to his room open and close. I peeked out the door, then scrambled out of the bathroom and into my own room.

As I pulled on my shirt Shiro knocked on my door.

"Hey, we're leaving in fifteen minutes, also you left your clothes in the bathroom." He said from the other side. Oh god. Did I leave my clothes in the bathroom? One of my Binders is in there! 

I ran out of my room. In a gray shirt and red boxers, and went to the bathroom. My clothes were on the floor, in a neat pile, my Binder not showing. Right where I left them. Undisturbed. I breathed a sigh of relief. Then I scooped up my clothes and walked back to my room.

"You're going to put on some pants right?" Shiro asked as I passed him in the hallway.

"No, I'm going to show off my boxers today," I said sarcastically. He smiled.

"What was with the hurry to get your clothes?" He asked. I said the first thing that came to my mind.

"At my old foster home if I didn't pick up my clothes they would steal them," I said. He smiled.

"Keith, we're not going to take your clothes," Shiro said, putting a hand on my shoulder. I sighed with relief, for the second time this morning.

"Red isn't my color anyways. And I don't think I can fit into your skinny jeans." He joked. I laughed nervously.

"I'm gonna..." I said pointing to my room and my bare legs suddenly feeling self-conscious. He nodded and I scurried into my room. For an outfit, I decided on a dark gray shirt, black skinny jeans, a red and black flannel which I tied around my waist, and a black beanie.

I grabbed my backpack and met Shiro downstairs. He tossed me a plain bagel and we walked out the door.

We didn't stop for coffee today. Shiro said he only got coffee on Mondays because, well...Monday's.

We met Allura, Matt, and Pidge in the library.

"Have you guys seen Lance? He didn't answer his phone last night." Pidge said.

"I talked to him last night. He's pretty upset about how his grandma died." Hunk said, "He probably stayed up pretty late after work. I'm sure he'll get here before or during the first period."

Pidge nodded. Then the bell rang and we all went to class.

Art was the same as yesterday, drawing your partner. Lance was already in the classroom. Listening to music.

Since Lance and I already finished I just drew small like sketches. Lance did the same.

"Why are you so emo?" Lance said, which was the first thing he had said to me. He said it without emotion. Like he was too sad to say criticism.

"I'm not emo," I said.

"Yeah, you are. If it wasn't for that flannel you would have no color on today. And you're not even wearing it, you just tied it around your waist. And you're hiding your hair in a beanie." Lance said, A little more feeling in his words.

"You hate my hair, I figured you would be relieved that it was in a beanie," I said.

"I never said I hated it, I just said it was a Mullet," Lance said.

"It's not a Mullet," I said. He rolled his eyes.

"Yeah yeah, whatever Mullet just go back to your drawing," Lance said. This time I rolled my eyes. I went back to my drawing.

After class was over I went to world history. Lance wasn't in my class. Nobody that I knew was. As I walked in the teacher walked up to me.

"You must be Keith, I'm Mrs. McClean. Yesterday we just went over the syllabus." She said she handed me a piece of paper.

"Your seat is that one." She said pointing to the back right. I nodded and went to my seat.

There was a large kid sitting in the seat next to me. He was talking to the kid on his other side. The teacher announced she was stepping out for a while.

"That selfish prick Takashi didn't let me on the team this year. I can't wait until he's gone. He said he was saving the spot for Lance McLame. Apparently, he and some scrawny kid got in a fight yesterday. And McLame couldn't go to practice. If Takashi wasn't so strong I would kick his ass." The kid said.

"Yeah, I heard he's gay. Heard him and that dweeb Matt are fucking." The other kid said.

"That's nasty. I hate fags." The first kid said.

"Did you know Matt's sister used to pretend she was a boy. God, I hate trannies." The second said.

Just then Pidge walked in and sat in front of us.

"Hey, Trannie. Why you late?" The first guy asked.

"Shut your mouth, Al," Pidge said.

"Why you so upset. Wishing you had a dick." The second guy said.

"Yeah Jordan, I was acting like you," Pidge said sarcastically. The second kid, Jordan, stood up and pushed Pidge. She stumbled backward.

"What'd you say Trannie?" Jordan said.

"I said, that you, like me, have no dick," Pidge said. The first kid, Al stood up.

"You wanna fight trannie?" Al asked. He raised his fist.

"Yeah, two against one, that's fair," I said. The three of them turned to me.

"What did you say punk?" Al asked.

"I was just saying two fat asses like you against one smaller girl isn't fair. Maybe pick on someone your own size, like an elephant." I said. Pidge held back a snort.

"You askin' for an ass-kicking punk?" Jordan asked. He popped his knuckles.

"Jordan, Al! In your seats. Keith, why don't you sit with Katie." Mrs. McClean said. I grabbed my stuff and sat with Pidge.

"Your a dead man Keith, a dead man," Al whispered.

And I responded with, "Bite me, bitch."


	7. Chapter 7

Pidge thanked me for standing up for her. We went to English. Pidge talked to hunk about technology. Lance seemed to be oddly quiet today.

I wasn't the only one who noticed because Pidge asked him, "Hey Lance what's with you?"

"Huh?" He said, "Oh, sorry, just tired. The whole thing about my Abeula and all."

"I'm really sorry man. I knew you were close to her and all." Hunk said. Pidge nodded. Lance nodded absentmindedly and went back to taking notes.

Hunk and Pidge shrugged and went back to their conversation.

I wanted to ask him if he was ok but we needed to get back to work.

After history, we went to gym. I changed in a stall again. There was no way I would change in front of all of those other kids.

"Alright boys, today we're doing some basketball in the gym. The girls are in the weight room today so we have the gym. Jake and Al why don't you be team captains." Mr. Grace said. Greeeaaat. Al was here too. 

I always hated it when we were picked by students. I was always last.

"I'll take Jordan," Al said.

"Lance," Jake said.

"Dylan."

"Keith." I jumped in surprise. I saw Lance lean away from Jake as if he just whispered in his ear. Did...did Lance tell him to pick me.

I walked over to them.

"Tyrone," Al said.

"Hunk."

The rest of the team picking was a blur. A bunch of kids I didn't know.   
Our team consisted of tall skinnier kids, with an exception of Hunk, while their team was mostly bigger kids. We would have an advantage. They may have had strength but we would be quicker than them.

I loved basketball. It was the only sport, aside from volleyball, that I was decent at. But I doubted they would put me in.

"Ok, how about we have Lance, me, Lenny, Connor, and Keith start," Jake said.

"You want me to play?" I asked.

"Yeah." Jake said, "You look like you'd be good."

We walked out onto the court. I heard Jake say,

"He better be as good as you say."

"Trust me. He is." Lance said. We all got in positions. I shot Lance a sideways glance. He believed in me. For once, I was looking forward to proving him right.

Jake got the ball first. He was going to pass it to lance but Al was covering him.

"Jake!" I said. He hesitated, then passed it to me. Nobody was covering me. I went straight for the basket and jumped....dunking it. Ok, maybe I was a little better than I let on.

The game continued with mainly me and Lance scoring.

"Wow McClain, you were right. He is good." Jake said patting Lance on the back.

"Let's just keep playing. I don't want to jinx it." Lenny said.

I noticed Al and Jordan watching me as I played. Now, one of them was always covering me. Connor had the ball, he was going to pass it to me but I wasn't open. I ran past Al but before I could I tripped on Al's foot. He tripped me. I landed on my ankle.

Mr. Grace blew his whistle and walked over to me.

"Oops," Al said smirking at me.

"I can't walk on it very well," I said as I stood.

"Why don't you just go dress down. Jake, find someone to take his place." Mr. Grace said.

"That was a foul, Al tripped him," Lance said.

"I'm sure it was an accident." Mr. Grace said.

"He was our best player," Connor complained.

"Hunk, you're in," Jake said. At that point, I went back to the locker room. Nobody was in there so I decided to change in front of my locker.

I pulled off my shorts and put on my black jeans. Then I took off my gym shirt. I accidentally dropped my other shirt. I bent over to pick it up. As I stood up I heard,

"Lookie what we got here. It's another Trannie." A familiar voice said. Oh no. No, no no no no. My shirt was off and my binder was showing. I turned, terrified and saw Al.

"I knew you were a bitch," Al said. He laughed cruelly. He walked over to me.

"So how much is hidden under that binder?" Al asked. He reached back quickly and unhooked my binder. It loosened and I covered my chest with my arms.

"Stop," I said helplessly. He slapped me. Then pushed me to the ground on my bad ankle.

"Unless you want your secret getting out your going to be doing what I say." Al threatened. I was panicking. I couldn't let my secret spill. I nodded. I heard Mr. Grace's whistle again.

"You better get dressed, looks like class is over," Al said. I quickly fixed my binder and threw my shirt on. Then I grabbed my bag and ran out, tears filling my eyes as I heard Al's cruel laugh behind me.

Lance's Pov

As we walked into the locker room I saw Keith run out, it looked like he had tears in his eyes. I saw Al laughing about something. He must have tried to fight him.

I quickly got changed and went after him. But he disappeared. I decided to go to lunch.

Everyone except Keith was already there.

"Have you seen Keith?" I asked Shiro.

"Not since he returned my keys. Why?" He asked.

Then, through one of the windows on the doors behind Shiro, I saw a flash of a mullet. I got up and ran to it, hearing everyone call after me. But I ignored them.

I saw Keith run out of the building. I ran after him.

"Keith!" I called. He continued to run. He was fast, but I was faster. Eventually, we were running side by side.

"What are you doing?" He said, his voice cracking.

"Seeing what's wrong," I responded.

"I'm fine!" He yelled.

"Clearly your not," I said. He stopped.

"Why do you care!?" He asked.

He looked me in the eye.

"Well?" He said.

"You're my friend," I said finally.

"Just leave me alone." He said.

"No."

"Its none of your business." He said. Then he turned and ran again. But this time He ran back to the school.

I walked back to the school far behind him.

Why wouldn't he tell me?

After ten minutes of thinking about it as I walked back to the cafeteria I decided maybe, just maybe, I might have liked him....more than a friend.

Keith's Pov 

I went to the library. I knew Lance wouldn't follow me. He wouldn't even talk to me if he found out. I just had to do whatever Al said until I graduate. Or until he graduates. He was a senior. But he had the credits of a freshman. I would just have to do two years. Two years of being his slave. Then I could get my own house far from anyone who would judge me for what I was. What I am.

"Look, it's Keithy." I heard from behind me. I turned and saw Al.

"You know, I need to pass math this year but I don't have the time to do it. So you're going to do it for me." Al said. He threw a math textbook and a notebook at me. I barely caught them.

"I found something else out about you today." Al said, "I found out your Takashi's brother. I want on the baseball team but he won't let me. If you can't convince him, I might just tell him he doesn't really have a brother."

"Why do you want to join baseball? You hate sports." I said. He slapped me. My face stung.

"Careful Keithy, another outburst like that and I might have to tell some people that your peeping in the boy's room," Al whispered leaning close to my face. I just nodded.

"Also I need you to pick me up lunch tomorrow. I'm on probation and can't leave the school. I want 2 Big Macs, a large fry, and a chocolate shake. But you're going to have to pay for it because I have no money." Al said.

"Do you want me to pick up taco bell and dairy queen while I'm at it?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Yeah, that would be great." He said, he snatched my phone and added himself as a contact.

"I'll send you a list of things I want tomorrow." He said.

"Is that all, your highness?" I said sarcastically. He raised his fist and punched me in the face. I fell backward, dropping the books he gave me.

"Don't you dare talk back to me." He said. Then he spat at me and left. Thankfully his spit didn't hit me.

I got up and grabbed his books. Then I walked back into the library. When I saw Pidge at a table in the corner I instantly turned to leave.

"Keith." She called. Which earned a shush from the librarian. Pidge rolled her eyes and walked over to me.

"Hey, are you ok? Lance is looking for you." She said.

"I'm fine. We already talked." I said.

"Hunk said Al and Jordan were giving you a hard time in gym today. But don't worry. They're all talk. They won't actually hurt you." Pidge said, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

Not unless they know what you really are. 

"Y-Yeah." Was all I could manage.

She took a peek at the textbook in my hand.

"I thought you took advanced calculus. Why do you have a geometry textbook?" She said poking the textbook.

"....Extra Credit...?" I said hoping I sounded more convincing than it sounded in my head.

"Cool. I didn't know they had extra credit in Calculus." Pidge said, fixing her glasses again.

We stood there awkwardly for a few minutes.

"I have to go now. Hunk wants to meet me in the computer lab." Pidge said, "See ya later Keith."   
She walked out of the library. I sat down at one of the tables and started the homework Al gave me.

My phone went off about five minutes later.

Al- You almost done with that homework I gave you, I have math in ten minutes.

It was Al And he wanted his homework now. I looked down at the paper. I had twenty more to go. Maybe I could finish. I quickly responded with, almost done. And hurried to finish the homework.

Seven minutes later Al walked into the library. I was on the last problem. Goddam story problems.

I was just about to finish when Al said,

"How is it that a smart ass like you can't finish a simple 40 problem assignment before lunch is over?"

"I'm on the last one now," I said. I finished it in seconds. Then I handed him the assignment.

"Why don't you walk with me to class Keithy." He said. It was more of a statement than a question. I nodded, grabbed my stuff and followed him. He went down a way that wasn't familiar to me. Then again, this was my second day. But something was different about this hall. It was... abandoned. Half the lights didn't work. And there were old pieces of paper everywhere.

Al stopped and turned to me.

"You know, I think you've had a few too many outbursts today. And yet I haven't told anyone. You should really listen to me." He said.

He punched me in the gut. I fell to the ground. He continued to punch me. But never in the face.

"I don't want to bruise up that pretty little face. People might ask questions." He said. I wanted to fight back but I couldn't. He would tell people what I was. What I am.

It seemed like hours. He beat me worse than any other bully or any parent I had. And I did have parents that beat me.

When I thought I was going to pass out from the pain he stopped. He grabbed me by my hair and raised my head.

"I own you now. Unless you want the school to know you're a Trannie then you are going to listen." He whispered cruelly. Then he planted a kick in my already bruised stomach. Once he left I managed to get up. The bell rang. Lunch was over, and the fifth period started. I was late.

My fifth-period teacher was Mrs. Levesque. She was so nice I knew she wouldn't care if I was late. As I got to the class I pulled on my flannel. My arms were starting to turn purple and I didn't want people asking questions. In a way, Al wasn't a complete idiot. He knew not to hit my face with anything more than a slap. That was about the only Semi-Nice thing I had to say.

I walked into class only two minutes late and sat down. She didn't even give me a second look. She just went to update role, to unmarked me as absent.

Once school was over I went to detention. Lance was already there. He was on his phone. Zarkon wasn't there yet. I sat two seats behind Lance. He didn't seem to notice me. I pulled out my phone and had one unread message.

Al- you're off the hook tonight. No homework. But you better bring money tomorrow, you're buying me lunch.

Me- alright. Just send me a list of what you want.

Al- 2 Big Macs, large fry, chocolate shake, 2 Doritos tacos, 1 Oreo blizzard, and curly fries from Arby's. And you better talk to Takashi about me getting on the team or tomorrow's beating will be even worse than today.

I knew better than to leave him on read so I responded. Then I got a text from someone else.

Sexy Boi- So are you just skipping detention or something?

Me- look behind you

Lance turned around and saw my middle finger. I didn't look up from my screen but I smirked.

Sexy Boi- I am hurt, Keith. That was like a knife to the heart. Just when I thought we could be buddies 

Me- ugh. Your annoying 

Sexy Boi- you know you love me 

He turned around and winked. I rolled my eyes.

Me- your not my type

Sexy Boi- is it because I'm a boy?

Me- no, I just don't like loud obnoxious idiots.

Sexy Boi- I'm not loud. why would you say that babe?

Me- I'm done. Zarkon isn't here, I'm going to get some food. If you want to come then you better hurry.

I stood up and walked out of the classroom. I heard Lance scramble behind me.

"Huh, never thought you would be the type to skip detention," Lance said.

"Eh, I was bored," I said. Lance grinned.

"So are we walking to McDonald's or something?" Lance asked.

"I was thinking Dairy Queen," I said.

"That's like twenty miles from here. I am not walking that far." Lance said.

"I know, we're taking that," I said. I pointed to a red and black motorcycle in the front of the parking lot.

It was part of my inheritance from my parents. It belonged to my dad. The adoption agency called me earlier to say they were dropping it off at the house. I suggested they drop it off at the school so I had a ride home.

"When did you get that?" He asked. I sat on the motorcycle. There was only one helmet.

"I've always had this. It's one of the few things I actually own. Now come on. I want to get there before I change my mind." I said. I tossed him my helmet.

"Where is your helmet?" He asked pulling the helmet on.

"Only got one. Don't worry, if we crash then I'll just try not to hit my head." I said. He rolled his eyes.

"If you die I'm going to kill you," Lance said. I smiled, but he didn't see it. He sat behind me, awkwardly holding the back.

"Ok, you're going to have to hold on to me. Unless you want to fly off." I said. He put his hands on my hips lightly. I rolled my eyes, grabbed his hands and guided them to my stomach. I almost cried out in pain, forgetting about the bruises. But I held it in.

"Don't let go," I warned. I turned on my sweet sweet child and heard her purr. Oh, how I missed you. I thought. Then I kicked it into drive and, while nearly hitting a tree, drove out of the school.


	8. Chapter 8

Lance didn't let go the whole ride. In fact, he actually gripped me tighter. Ignoring the pain it was actually a great ride. His body warmth comforted me. I never rode with anyone else. Ever. Even my birth parents never rode with me.

We pulled into Dairy Queen. We both ordered blizzards. Then we found an open booth and sat across from each other.

"So, how long have you been riding?" Lance asked as he took a bite of ice cream.

"Well, they wouldn't let me have it until I was sixteen. I got it the year before last when I got my license." I said. He nodded.

"Who is they?" He asked.

"There's a lawyer that has all of the stuff I inherited from my parents when they died," I explained.

"That must be cool. What else are you getting?" Lance asked.

"Not much. When I'm eighteen I get my parents old farmhouse." I said.

"You're getting a house, that's really cool. Where is it?" Lance asked. I hesitated. I never told anyone where it was. Whenever I wanted to disappear I went there. It was a two and a half hour drive from here. The old townhouse was in ruins after it burnt down the day my parents were murdered. I'd tell you about it but I don't think I'm ready to think about it.

"Out of town. But it's not that exciting. It was burnt down when I was eleven." I said.

"Is that how they died?" Lance asked quietly. I looked down at the table.

"S-s-sort of," I said, emotion filling my voice. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from breaking down.

"Keith?" Lance said.

"We...we should probably get going," I said, a little less stable then I wanted.

"Keith," Lance repeated. I didn't look at him. I grabbed my half-eaten blizzard and threw it in the trash. Lance didn't move.

When I came back to the table I still didn't meet his eyes.

"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything." He said quietly.

"It's fine, let's just get going," I said. He nodded and stood up.

The ride home got bad real quick. It started to rain. And I had no jacket.

"Pull over." I heard in my ear. I gave a slight nod and pulled to the side of the road safely. I hadn't had the slightest idea of why he wanted to stop but I didn't care. He got off of my bike and took off the helmet.

"Sick?" I asked. I could tell he didn't like riding on my bike that much. Which kind of bummed me out. I liked riding with him. Wait...forget I said that.

"No." He said. He took off the jacket that he always wore, and handed it to me.

"Here, your freezing, I can feel you shiver." He said.

"No, I'm fine. We're almost home." I said.

"We're only halfway. And I'm not taking no for answers. So either you can put the jacket on or I will force it on you." He said stubbornly.

"You're so annoying," I said taking the jacket. He smiled, which totally didn't distract me from what he was saying.

"Keith?" Lance said shaking me from my trance.

"Huh?" I said stupidly. He laughed.

"Just get on the motorcycle dummy." He said. I glared at him. He smirked. I rolled my eyes and got on my bike. He sat behind me and put his arms around me. I bit my lip, ignoring the pain in my stomach. And we drove.

I pulled up to Lance's house about five minutes later. It wasn't really a house, more of an apartment complex. Maybe his family was poor? I wasn't sure. 90% of the families I lived with couldn't afford an actual house so it wasn't unusual for me.

Lance hesitated for a minute. Then he got off and thanked me.

"I'll see you tomorrow Keith." He said, handing me the helmet. He turned to leave. But before he got to the door he turned and said,

"I had fun, Mullet. Let's do this again sometime."

Then he walked inside the building.

I drove back to Shiro's house, ironically he was just getting out of his truck in his baseball uniform.

"Hey, where'd you get that?" Shiro asked as I got off.

"It was my dad's. Part of my inheritance." I said, grabbing keys.

"No, I'm talking about that jacket. Isn't that Lance's?" Shiro asked. I looked down and noticed I was still wearing his jacket.

"It was cold, he let me borrow it," I said quietly. Shiro sent me a smile.

"What?" I said.

"Nothing." Shiro said, "It's just interesting how it starts."

"We're just friends if anything," I said.

"Ok," Shiro said.

"I didn't have a coat and it started raining!" I said.

"Ok."

"I'm serious."

"All I'm saying is ok. Although, I'm surprised Lance got on the motorcycle. He and I were in a motorcycle crash a couple years ago. That's how I got my scar. He promised he'd never even go near a motorcycle again." Shiro said.

"Oh." Was all I said.

"So why did you get in so late? Detention was out like an hour ago." Shiro said.

"We went and got food," I said.

"Really? Where'd you go? Was it a date?" Shiro asked. I punched his arm.

"We went to dairy queen," I said.

"That's pretty far away from the school," Shiro noted.

"Yep," I said.

"Did he pay?" He asked.

"Maybe," I said.

"But it wasn't a date," Shiro said.

"No. We were both hungry." I said, "And got food. Not a date."

"Yeah, I guess your right. Whenever he takes someone out he never pays. Even if it is a date. I'm surprised he paid." Shiro said. Then why did he pay for me? 

"Let's just go inside Shiro. It's starting to rain." I said. He nodded and we went to hang out in his room.

We didn't do much. He talked about practice. I asked him if he could let Al join the team. He was reluctant at first but eventually agreed.

We hung out for a while. Then mom called us down for dinner. During dinner, I responded to Al. He kept threatening to spill my secret if I forgot his lunch.

"How was your day son?" Lee...or Dad asked.

"It was ok." I said, "How was yours?"

"It was good." He went into a long story about his work. It was pretty boring and I zoned out halfway through. When he finished Mae and Him started talking. I felt my phone vibrate so I checked it.

Sexy Boi- do you remember if we had homework in English

Me- We didn't.

Sexy Boi- thanks Kei-Kei

Me- If you call me that again, I will actually slit your throat.

Sexy Boi- awww come on don't be like that. I wuv u keef

Me- I swear to god I am blocking you.

Sexy Boi- nooooooooo!

I put my phone on silent and continued eating, hoping that Lance would stop messaging me and Lee wouldn't go into another boring story.

"So how was your day son?" Lee asked.

"It was alright. School is school." I said.

"Well if you need any supplies, new clothes, or anything else just let me or Mae know alright?" He said.

"Alright. Thanks, Lee." I said. My phone started to vibrate. I swear I turned it on silent.

I tried to ignore it but it kept vibrating.

Shiro looked at me.

"Are you going to get that?" He asked. I looked at my phone. Lance, or Sexy Boi as he put in my phone, was calling me.

I sighed.

"Yeah, can I be excused?" I asked. Mae nodded and I got up, taking my plate to the kitchen.

"Hello?" I said, answering the phone.

"Hey, I need a favor," Lance said urgently.

"Can't you just ask Hunk?" I said.

"Everyone else is busy. Listen I need you to come get me. My car broke down." Lance said.

I sighed.

"Where are you?" I asked.

"I'm on that highway between town and Shady Oaks." He said.

"Highway 102?" I asked.

"Yeah yeah, that one. I'm like 7 miles north of town." Lance said.

"I'll be there in a sec," I said. Then I hung up.

"Shiro, can I borrow your truck?" I asked as he came into the kitchen, cleaning his dish.

"Sure, why do you need it?" He asked.

"Lance broke down. Hunk is busy. I'm going to go get him." I said. Shiro nodded and handed me his keys.

"Ok. Just don't be out too late." Shiro said. I shot him a glare before leaving the house.

Lance had no idea how far a mile was because I didn't find him until the twenty-three-mile marker. I pulled over and saw Lance standing out in front of a beat up 1987 beige Corolla. Even with it being fairly dark out I could see it had at least three dents and several scratches. No wonder it broke down, it was a piece of junk.

I got out of the truck.

"Thank God Keith you're a life saver," Lance said.

"I can see why your car broke down, it's trash," I said. Lance looked offended.

"Don't insult my little lady. She's beautiful." Lance defended.

"It looks like she still has a cassette player. How old is it? Why haven't you replaced it?" I asked. Lance glared at me.

"Well, it's not like my parents just give me everything I want." He said.

"And you think mine do? Mine are dead!" I retorted.

"Well mine-" Lance cut himself off.

"Let's just go." He said. Why the sudden mood change? He went from pissed off to calm in like two seconds.

"What about your car?" I asked.

"I have an uncle in Shady Oaks who owns an auto body shop. He said he'd pick it up." Lance said. Then he went to the truck and got in. I followed him and turned the truck back on.

As we drove I decided to break the silence, which I never do because I like it quiet.

"So Why were you going to Shady Oaks? It's like forty miles from your house." I asked.

"My Abuela she lives...lived in Shady Oaks. She died yesterday and I was going to help with the funeral arrangements." He said quietly.

"Oh," I said quietly. He shook his head.

"Don't feel sorry for me. I'm alright." Lance said.

"Why are you so upset today at school after gym? Was it Al?" Lance asked.

"It was nothing," I said quietly.

"It was obviously something. Did he hit you?" He asked.

"Why would you care?" I asked.

"Well, if one of my friends-"

"-Just...just mind your own business," I said. Lance looked a little hurt but he was silent. He then plugged his phone into the car and started playing Beyonce.

"Ugh. Turn this crap off Lance." I complained. Lance gasped as if he were in a courtroom drama.

"Beyonce is a queen!" He defended.

The rest of the car ride we argued on what kinds of music were better.

We finally pulled up to his apartment building.

"Are your parents going to be worried your late?" I asked. Lance flinched.

"I um....no they won't be worried." He said slowly.

"Wait a minute...why didn't you ask them to pick you up?" I asked. He frowned.

"I...I don't live with them..." He said.

"You live by yourself? Is that legal at your age?" I asked.

"Well, I've been doing it for a year now so I guess they made an exception for me." He said. We sat in silence for a while.

"Thanks, Keith. I owe you." Lance said and he got out of the truck. I sat there for a minute in silence before I drove home.


	9. Chapter 9

The week went by really fast. Al wasn't as bad as he was the first day he found out. All I had to do was do his homework, buy him lunch every once and awhile, not talk back, and pretty much just be a punching bag for him when he got pissed off.

Today was Friday. Which meant at 7 o clock tonight we would all meet up at Pidge's house to have a sleepover. But that wasn't for a couple hours. I, unfortunately, was still at school. Lance had skipped detention to go to baseball practice, as Zarkon hadn't shown up again. And I was in the locker room listening to Al vent his frustrations via fist to stomach.

It wasn't the worst I've endured so I just accepted it. He was yelling about some girl he liked that he couldn't date or something. I was almost positive he was talking about Allura but I had no idea. I was pretty much just blocking him out. That was until I felt his fist connect with my face.

I stumbled backward.

"Are you even listening trannie?" Al asked.

"Yes. You have a crush on Allura but you can't ask her out because she doesn't like you." I said. Under my breath, I said, "I can see why she thinks that."

My face stung. Al sighed.

"You know Keithy, you've been pretty good today. I'm going to be a nice person and let you go home earlier. But if you don't do my history homework I might reconsider next week." Al said. I nodded, got up and moved quickly out of the Lockerroom.

I was tempted to stay and watch Shiro and Lance at practice but I decided against it. If Shiro saw me he would have known I wasn't at detention and he might have asked where I was before. It was just easier to pretend like I had gone home after detention.

Mae greeted me with a hug and a plate of cookies.

"Here, I had some left over from the bake sale." She said. I recalled her mentioning something about a bake sale during dinner but I wasn't really paying attention.

I nodded and thanked her.

"I have to go into town so you're on your own tonight until you guys go to the Holts," Mae said.

"Okay," I said.

"I left a little cash in your room as an allowance. You'll get it every Friday. Just be sure you unload the dishwasher before you go to your sleepover." Mae said. She gave me a hug then grabbed her keys and left.

I went into my room, turned on my music, and did homework. I had already finished Al's homework when I got a text from Pidge.

Gremlin: Remember were all meeting at my place at 7. You know the address?

Me: Yeah, Shiro gave it to me

Gremlin: Ok. Just know that I am going to kick your ass at Mario Cart.

Me: We'll see ;)

I got up and started to pack a small overnight bag. As I went in to grab my toothbrush out of the bathroom something in the mirror caught my eye. Or rather I caught my eye in the mirror. There was a large bruise starting to form around my eye.

It was because he hit me. I realized.

I quickly ran into my room looking for any makeup I had that I could cover it up with, but of course, I had gotten rid of all of the makeup before I moved into the Shirogane household.

I quickly grabbed my wallet, my sunglasses, the keys to my bike and headed out the door.

While I was shopping on Monday I had spotted an Ulta Beauty near to the Ross I was shopping at.

I made sure my sunglasses covered my bruising eye before walking in. The ladies at the counter welcomed me in. Not questioning my sunglasses, despite it being a cloudy September Friday.

I instantly went to the concealer section. In my experience the more expensive the better. I grabbed three different brands with my skin tone. I wasn't absolutely sure which one was better but I didn't care. I needed to cover up the bruise. I also grabbed a foundation pack.

"Huh, since when did you start wearing makeup?" A voice said from behind me. I flinched turned towards the voice. Lance stood at the end of the aisle. I hid the concealer behind my back and slowly set it on the table behind me.

Lance walked up to me.

"I'm...I'm not. Shiro wanted me to pick up eyeliner." I said pointing to the conveniently placed eyeliner section to my left. I grabbed the first tube I saw.

"Wet n Wild!? Oh, that's just insulting. Try this one." He suggested grabbing an eyeliner pencil off the shelf and handing it to me.

"Thanks...but how would you know? What are you even doing here?" I asked. Lance laughed. That's when I noticed the name tag and the uniform.

"I work here silly." He said.

"I thought you skipped detention to go to baseball practice," I said.

"No, I talked to Vice Principal Alfor and he agreed I could leave early because I had an early shift here today. I get off at 6." He said.

"Fun. Why a makeup store?" I asked.

"I know a lot about make up. I used to do my...cousins makeup." He stumbled on the word cousin as if he were planning on saying something else.

"Lance you're needed for a makeover." A girl employee said. Lance nodded.

"I'll see you tonight Keef." He said, winking at me. I rolled my eyes, then remembered he couldn't see my eyes because of my shades.

After he was gone I quickly grabbed the concealer I had picked out earlier and went to the front counter, buying the eyeliner without realizing.

Once I got home I quickly made my way into the bathroom. It didn't take that long, or that much make up, to fix my problem. My eye almost looked like nothing was wrong. Which confused me because, I may have experience with makeup, but I have never tried to cover up and bruise or black eye before.

I went back to my room, hiding my make up with some of my other things.

I heard the door downstairs open and close. One look out my window told me Shiro was home, as his truck was parked out front.

He walked upstairs and knocked on my door. I sat on my bed and pulled out my sketchbook, turned to a random page and began to add to whatever was on it. I also put on my headphones so nothing was suspicious.

The door slowly opened and I say Shiro peek his head in. He made a 'take off your headphones I want to talk to you' gesture. I took them off. He came in and sat on my bed.

"How was practice?" I asked.

"It was alright. Al....he skipped today, which is annoying but he is a decent catcher so I don't want to get rid of him. Lance showed up for a few minutes before work." He said. I nodded.

"How was your day?" He asked.

"It was alright. Nothing new." I said. He nodded. We exchanged stories about our day.

"I went into town and picked you up something," I said. I handed him the eyeliner.

"How did you know I was almost out? And how did you know my brand?" He asked.

"Well...you complained this morning about not having enough for next week." I faked. He hadn't actually said that, but I had a feeling he would remember.

"And I didn't know your brand. I went to Ulta." I said. He looked at me confused.

"That still doesn't tell me how you got my brand?" He said.

"You know, Lance works there. I just asked him." I said.

"Wait a minute...Lance works at a makeup store?" Shiro asked.

"Yeah...you didn't know that? He gave a makeover today before I left." I said. Shiro laughed.

"I probably shouldn't, but I have to tell Allura and Matt," Shiro said. He quickly shot her a text before we continued talking.

<><><><>

After finishing the dishes Shiro and I were ready to leave. I had added one of the small bottles of concealer to my overnight bag.

Shiro had his own bag.

"Ready?" He asked. I nodded.

We took Shiro's truck. I was going to offer to take him on my bike but 1) I wasn't sure if he wanted to ride one since the last time he did, he nearly lost his arm and 2) I usually didn't like riding with other people.

When we pulled up to Pidge's house Shiro turned to me.

Before we got out I paused. I was going to wear Lance's jacket in front of him at the sleepover to see if he noticed but I decided against it. I took the jacket off and set it in the back seat.

"Just going to warn you, sleepovers with Pidge are a little...overwhelming. Just thought I'd let you know. I know you're not used to being around a lot of people." Shiro said. I nodded.

"I've been going to school with them for a week, I'm pretty sure I understand how crazy it will be," I said. Shiro nodded and we got out of the car.

As we walked up to the house I heard yelling. Since there was no car out front I assumed Matt and Pidge's parents weren't home.

Shiro knocked on the door then took a step back. I looked at him strangely, but before I could understand the door was wrenched open. A small puppy, in which I wasn't sure the breed, maybe a Jack Russell terrier, came out as well and started jumping around me trying to bite my feet.

"Oh god. Rover! Go inside." Pidge said. She pushed the dog inside, then offered a hand to help me up.

"Sorry, he usually doesn't jump on guys like that. They probably won't try to eat you." She said. She led us inside and into the living room.

"Just throw your stuff anywhere. We always sleep in here." Pidge said.

"Where's Matt?" Shiro asked. Did...did he blush when he asked that.

My mind suddenly shot back to what Al had said about Matt and Shiro being an item. I might have to ask him about it later.

"He's getting pizza," Pidge said. Shiro was about to ask something but Pidge cut him off.

"Don't worry, he got your nasty pineapple pizza." She said. I looked at Shiro.

"You eat Hawaiian Pizza? Pineapple on Pizza is a sin!" I said. Shiro glared at me.

"It is amazing! How dare you insult my pizza!?" He asked.

"You can't eat fruit on a pizza! It's like having cherry's on a hamburger!" I argued.

"Pineapple is amazing! You're just jealous!" He argued back.

"Guys, guys. There is an easy way to settle this." Pidge said. She held up a copy of Mario cart and three Wii remotes. We both grabbed a remote and sat in front of the couch.

"Ok, ok, newbies have to play Princess Peach," Pidge said to me.

"Fine with me. I always play Peach anyways." I said. Pidge and Shiro stared at me.

"Your brother is weird Shiro," Pidge said.

"Says you," I said. Pidge snorted.

"Your right, your right." She said.

We went back to our game.

I picked Peach

Shiro picked Waluigi

Pidge picked Yoshi

For carts they both picked the default cart, I, of course, picked the motorcycle.

"Geez your so emo," Pidge said.

"I'm literally picked the least emo character there was." I retorted. Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Let's play!" She said. She picked the mushroom cup and we played.

<><><><>

"Noooooooo!" Shiro and Pidge said as I defeated both of them. Pidge got 2nd, whereas Shiro had gotten 7th.

"You suck at this game," I told him.

"Hey, I did better than....some of the computers." He complained. I rolled my eyes. Halfway through the game Hunk, Allura, and Her Cousin Coran showed up. Everyone introduced me to him. It was kind of funny hearing four people trying to say the same thing at once.

"Ok, well since you won you can play in the next round with Coran, Allura, and Hunk," Pidge said. I shook my head.

"Go ahead. I'll watch for now." Pidge nodded and took my controller.

I scrolled through ifunny for awhile until I felt someone sit next to me.

"Shiro, you know how much I hate it when you read over my shoulder," I said, without looking up.

"Good thing I'm not Shiro, now go to the next picture I already read that one." Said a familiar voice.

I looked up and saw Lance sitting awkwardly close to me looking at my phone.

I gave him a questioning look. 'When did you get here?' 

His eyes shot towards the others, who were all gathered around the tv. He seemed to say, 'They were too distracted to notice.' 

I sat there for a while just looking at Lance. I have no idea why but I found him fascinating. The way his eyes reminded me of the ocean, how his hair looked as soft as a kitten.

"Well...next picture," Lance said, shaking me from my trance. I nodded, probably blushed, and swiped to the next meme.


	10. Chapter 10

Lance

The night was full of Mario Kart, pizza, monopoly (which I crushed everyone), and mortal combat. Matt had brought the pizza, one of which was Shiro's nasty pineapple Canadian bacon pizza. Matt also enjoyed the gross fruit pizza.

Once we all had our pizza we all sat in the living room.

"Ok, what are we watching tonight?" Matt asked.

"No Bee Movie!" Pidge said before I started to say something.

"Aw man. We haven't watched that movie since last weekend." I complained.

I swear I heard Keith whisper, "Ya like Jazz?" 

"Maybe Keith should pick, he's the newbie." Hunk suggested. We all looked at Keith who was sitting next to me on the couch.

He started to say, "We could watch-"

"DISNEY PRINCESS MARATHON!" I yelled.

Everyone stared at me.

"Come on. We can start with the most recent one and work our way to Cinderella!" I said.

"No! We're not watching Frozen again!" Shiro complained.

"LET IT GOOOO, LET IT GOOO, CAN'T HOLD IT BACK ANYMOOORE!" I screamed. Pidge, Allura, and Shiro all threw pillows at me.

"Lance, shut the fuck up before I throw my pizza at you," Pidge said. Shiro glared at her.

"Pidge, Language!" He said.

"Ok, dad." She said. He glared at her.

"Keith, please pick something that isn't Disney or a meme movie," Matt said.

"I was going to say maybe a Star Wars marathon..." Keith said awkwardly.

"Keith you are my new favorite person!" I said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. His face got redder.

"I just haven't seen them in a while..." He said.

"Ok, but we're skipping The Phantom Menace, " Pidge said.

"DON'T YOU SKIP A SINGLE ONE GREMLIN!" I yelled.

Keith 

Lance and Pidge got in a yelling match about how awful jar jar was.

"ME-SA THINK JAR-JAR IS WELL DEVELOPED CHARACTER. YOU-SA IS JUST JEALOUS!" Lance yelled. Pidge tackled him, which he was easily able to block and push her down as she was shorter than a fifth grader.

"Guys, let's just watch the movies. Lance put in the first movie. Pidge... there's pepperoni in your hair..." Shiro said.

"Ok, dad," Lance said. Lance put in the movie and sat back down. Pidge took the pepperoni out of her hair and ate it.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>  
7 Star Wars Movies Later

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>  
(Minor Spoilers for The Force Awakens and maybe The Last Jedi)

"Come on, just two more movies!" Lance said. Hunk, Coran, Allura, Pidge and Shiro were all asleep. Which left Lance, Matt, and Me. Matt was barely awake but determined to watch all 9 movies, as he was a die-hard Star Wars Nerd like Lance.

Lance put in The Force Awakens and by the time the previews were over Matt was out.

"You know, Finn and Poe should totally get together," Lance said.

"What? No, Rey and Finn need to get together. Poe is just a side character." I said.

"What are you homophobic?" Lance teased.

"No, I'm gay, " I said without realizing. Then I covered my mouth. Lance stared at me, not saying anything. I knew he wasn't homophobic because Pidge said he was bi.

"Your Gay?" He asked. Without saying anything I nodded quickly.

"Huh, I mean, I can see it. You look enough like a girl that I guess you'd be bottom then." Lance said.

"Wouldn't you like to know," I said.

"We can try if you want." He said wiggling his eyebrows. I pushed his face away.

"No," I said flatly. His smile fell and he finally went silent.

He didn't talk much the rest of the movie. In fact, he didn't say anything until the end credits.

"You gonna be awake to watch the last one?" Lance asked. I nodded, even though I knew I'd probably be asleep by the time the porgs showed up.

Lance sat back down next to me. The movie started. As the yellow opening crawl displayed I slowly started to drift off.

<><><><><><><(>_<)><><><><><><>

The next morning I woke up to what smelled like an ocean breeze. I inhaled the intoxicating smell until I felt something tickle my nose. I opened my eyes and realized my face was buried in brown hair. It took me a second to realize that I was cuddling with Lance! I quickly got up. He didn't seem to notice the sudden movement.

I saw that everyone else was still asleep. Matt and Shiro together on the other couch. Pidge sprawled out on the recliner and Allura and Hunk on the floor.

I made my way to the bathroom, which took a while because I had no idea where it was.

But eventually, I found it. As I went in I noticed the makeup on my eye was fading and the bruising was showing slightly. I went back into the living room an grabbed my bag.

When I returned to the bathroom I changed into some normal clothes, which happened to be a pair of black sweatpants that had the words: Enjoy The View, printed across my butt. I also threw on a Welcome to the black parade shirt. I didn't feel like dressing too much today, it's not like I was going to school. I fixed my eye makeup. The bruise wasn't that bad, but I didn't want to the others to see it.

I walked back out into the living room. Matt and Coran were both awake as well.

"Morning Keith, hope you slept well," Coran said.

"Yeah...I slept ok." I said, trying not to think of Lance.

"How about you two?" I asked. As we talked I saw Shiro and Lance start to move at the sounds of our voices.

"Maybe we should take this into the Kitchen. I'll make breakfast." Matt said.

We made our way into the kitchen where Matt started to make pancakes. The three of us started talking. Coran asked me about some of my other families, I asked him about college.

Coran, Matt, and I ate our food. When he was finished, Matt went back to the stove to make more for the others. Hunk was the first to wake up, followed by Shiro, Pidge, Allura, then Lance.

Lance, of course, sat next to me.

"Sleep ok?"

"Huh?" I asked. He laughed.

"Never mind." He said as he took a bite of syrup-drenched pancake.

"Your drowning your pancakes," I commented.

"Hey, I can't drown and neither can my pancakes." He said. I raised an eyebrow.

"You can't drown? What are you a mermaid or something?" I asked.

"Maybe, why do you have a mermaid fantasy or something, cause I would be willing to help you out with that." He said, wiggling his eyebrows. I rolled my eyes.

"Go back to your pancakes dork," I said. He frowned and went back to his food.

"So I was thinking we all get out of the house today, maybe go to the mall." Hunk said.

"I'm sure Mr. Edgy over here needs some more My Chemical Romance shirts from hot topic. Maybe even some Black Veil Brides to go with it. Or Falling In Reverse. Or-"

"We get it, Lance. I'm emo, hardy har." I said cutting the Cuban boy off.

"Wait a minute....your emo...?" Lance said. I slapped him.

"Yeah. I think a trip out of the house would do us all some good." Shiro said.

Everyone else went to get ready.


	11. Chapter 11

Lance

Once we were all ready we all met outside.

"So I can fit six in my truck." Shiro said, "The other three have to ride with Lance or Hunk or something."

"Actually Coran and I have to go to a family thing," Allura said. Shiro nodded.

"So then someone is going to have to ride alone." He said.

"I will, I can walk home and get my bike. I forgot my wallet anyways." Keith said.

"I'll go with you," I said. He raised an eyebrow.

"I forgot my wallet at home too," I said nervously, my face heating up slightly.

"Ok, so we'll walk to my house, get my wallet and bike then head to your place, then to the mall," Keith said. I nodded.

"Lead the way mullet," I said. He rolled his eyes and started walking.

"So you've been living by yourself since you were fifteen?" Keith asked, trying to make conversation.

"Yeah. Not something I like talking about." I said.

"Well, you're lucky you weren't put in the system. I wish I could live by myself." Keith said.

"My parents aren't dead. I just don't live with them." I said.

"Oh, sorry." He said.

"Why don't you like the system? Shiro's family is nice, do you not like them? Did you never have a nice family?" I asked.

"I've had decent families before. And I really like Shiro and his family I just know it won't last. They won't like what I am." He said quietly.

"Wait, you think they won't accept you because you're gay?" I asked. He paused for a minute, then reluctantly nodded.

"Dude, Shiro is Bi. He came out like three years ago. They aren't going to judge you based on your sexuality." I said. Keith smiled, but it wasn't genuine.

"Thanks, Lance." He said. We continued to walk until the Shirogane household came into view. Mrs. and Mr. Shirogane weren't home when we got there. I had been to Shiro's house multiple times. Shiro always had sleepovers at his house in middle school. I would always hide in the guest room closet for hide and seek. I assumed that the guest room now wad Keith's room.

The house looked no different than. It had three years ago. The rooms were all clean and neatly decorated. We walked upstairs and into what was formerly the guest room.

The room consisted mainly of black, gray, and red. There was a queen size bed with a gray comforter and red sheets, sitting next to a desk on one side and a bedside table on the other. On the other side of the room was a dresser next to the closet. The wall was painted gray. There were white shelves on the wall above his bed with a few books. His wall had several posters for bands he liked, all framed neatly. My Chemical Romance, Black Veil Brides, Panic! At The Disco, Falling In Reverse, Bring Me The Horizon, and several others.

"Wow, mullet. Nice room. You're pretty good at decorating." I said. He just nodded and grabbed his wallet out of the top drawer of his dresser.

I noticed his sketchbook on his desk. I picked it up and started looking through.

"Let's go." He said, grabbing his keys. He turned around then his eyes went wide.

"Don't touch that!" He said, quickly swiping the book from my now empty hands.

"What, they looked good. I like that one you did of Shiro." I said.

"Those are private." He said. I raised an eyebrow.

"Got some inappropriate stuff in there do ya?" I asked. He rolled his eyes.

"No, I just don't like people looking at it." He said.

"Why?"

"Well....you can learn a lot about someone from their drawings, or their writings, or their music. It's exposing a part of yourself that you've never exposed before, letting people see almost everything about you. It's....well...its difficult to willingly allow someone you know and care about see the side of you that you've hidden from everyone else in your life for so many years. If I were to show you my drawings...I would feel exposed like you just went inside my head and read every secret I had." Keith said. I never understood why people cared so much. I drew all the time and I always let people see. I'm only ok but still. I hardly ever hold back on stuff like that.

"Let's just get your wallet," Keith said. Then he pulled me outside and handed me the helmet to his bike.

"You remember where I live right?" I asked. He nodded. I wrapped my arms around his waist tightly, for fear of falling off and he started the bike.

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

We arrived at the mall about ten to fifteen minutes later. The others said they would meet us in front of Orange Julius so as soon as we walked in I guided us to the food court.

When we got there we didn't see any of our friends.

"Maybe Pidge made them stop at Gamestop again." I guessed. Keith nodded.

As we waited Keith bought us both smoothies. He said it was a thank you for the Dairy Queen earlier this week.

After six or seven minutes we saw Shiro, Hunk, Matt, and Pidge walking towards us. Matt and Pidge had several gaming store bags, Pidge carrying as much as her small arms could fit. Hunk had a couple baking tools from Bed, Bath, and Beyond. Shiro had a small bag, probably containing more eyeliner, from JCPenny.

"We're going to drop this off at the truck, why don't you show Keith around the mall. Hot topic is on the second floor." Shiro said.

"Ok, catch up with us there," I said. Shiro nodded and walked out with the other three, particularly sticking close to Matt. If I didn't know better I'd say there was something between them.

Keith started walking in the wrong direction, almost getting lost in the crowds of people.

"Lance?" I heard him say, as he looked around. I walked up to him and grabbed his hand.

"Geez, you're going to get lost. Just, come on idiot." I said, pulling him along with me heading to the nearest escalator. As we got on the escalator Keith tripped on a shoelace I caught him. We awkwardly stood, him between my arms as we rode the escalator.

"Well, that escalated quickly." I joked. Keith moved out of my grasp, his face red, and punched me.

"Sh-shut up." He said.

We continued to walk until the emo capital came into view. Keith pulled me behind him, as we were still holding hands to avoid losing each other. As they got to the entrance to the store our hands disconnected and he buried himself in the dark clothing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So I just want to say this now, but I am not homophobic Trans-phobic or anything like that. Any Time there are mentions of homophobia/trans-phobia It is purely for storytelling purposes. I do not approve of any trans-phobia/homophobia. Please do not leave hate comments on that. There are plenty of other things to hate like my crappy writing. 
> 
> So yeah. All the bullies and shit in this story, I do not approve of their behavior. They are just here for the sake of the story.


	12. Chapter 12

Keith

I made my way to the back, grabbing nearly every shirt I could get my hands on. I used to have a decent collection of clothes from here but over the years my siblings from different families stole what little clothing I had. Now that I didn't have to worry about a sibling stealing my things, or I hoped that I didn't have to worry about it, I was eager to remake my old collection.

I made my way through the store, grabbing shirts, hoodies, pants, a cup with pictures from supernatural on it, and a couple new nose piercings. Yes, my nose is pierced. Don't judge.

I saw Lance leaning on the counter talking to the girl behind it. She had short, green dyed hair with patches of red near the top of her head, Gage the size of a half dollar, three piercing on the top of her ear, a nose piercing, and two lip piercings. She wore merch that I had seen around the store and a hot topic beanie. She was the definition of a Hot Topic worker.

Lance casually leaned on the counter and tried to flirt with her. I rolled my eyes. Anyone who was willing to work here wouldn't be fooled by his charms.

I walked up to the counter and put the various items that I picked out. The girl immediately turned from Lance to help me.

"Did you find everything ok?" She asked me. I nodded.

"Great choices. I just bought this shirt yesterday." She added, holding up a new shirt from Sleeping With Sirens' newer album.

"You like these bands?" I asked. She nodded.

"Yeah, the only one I don't see in here is Green Day." She said.

"I already have the shirt you sell," I said. The girl smiled.

"Your total is $92.25. I think I have a 40% off coupon if you want it." She said. I smiled.

"That would be awesome," I said. She scanned a coupon.

"Ok, your total is now $54.75, do you have a hot topic rewards account?" She asked. I nodded, handed her the card and the cash.

She printed the receipt, scribbled something on it, then handed it to me with my change and my clothes in a bag. I grabbed my stuff, thanked her, and left. Lance followed me, gaping.

"How the fuck did you do that?" He asked.

"Do what?" I asked.

"Look at the receipt." He said. I pulled the paper out and saw a phone number scribbled on the paper.

Lance's face made me smile.

"Maybe she just liked me better," I said.

"I even used my best lines." He complained.

"I guess you just aren't as good as you think Ladykiller," I said.

"So, are you going to call her?" He asked, his tone serious.

"I might," I smirked. He frowned.

"But you're not even straight." He said.

"Wait...are you jealous?" I asked.

"What!? No! You can go out with whoever you want." Lance said.

"Oh my god, you are. You're jealous that she picked me over you aren't you?" I said. He scowled.

"That's not why I'm jealous." He said. I was about to ask what he meant when I saw Pidge holding up her phone taking a video of us.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Just making sure I get all this. Go back to fighting." She said. I rolled my eyes and walked towards Shiro.

"Anywhere else you want to go?" I asked.

"Well, the food court has a Panda Express." He said.

"Lead the way," I said. Shiro laughed and we walked to the food court.

<><><><><>

"I'm telling you, I can get that baristas number in five minutes flat," Lance said. I snorted.

"Please, you couldn't even get the hot topic girls number. You even used an emo pick up line." I said.

"That was a perfectly normal pick up line thank you very much," Lance said, as he sipped soda from a bright red cup he got with his meal.

"You said you were falling for her...in reverse," I said. He rolled his eyes.

"Exactly, she was wearing a falling in reverse bracelet. I was trying to connect with her." Lance said.

"You did a great job," I said sarcastically.

"Oh please, don't act all suave because you got her digits, you're not even going to call her," Lance said. I shot him a look.

"Why wouldn't he call her. That's like...his type of girl, she even gave him a discount on clothes." Matt said.

"She's...She's not my type." I said.

"How so?" Pidge asked.

"Well...I don't exactly like....girls." I said slowly. Other girls. Echoed in the back of my mind. I pushed those thoughts away as I waited for everyone's responses.

I felt an arm around my shoulders.

"We all accept you, Keith," Shiro said.

"Yeah, I mean, Shiro and Lance are both Bi," Matt said.

"Yeah. I always knew you were gay." Pidge said.

"You've literally known me for a week," I complained.

"Hey! My gaydar is fully operational. I knew like, day three." She said. I rolled my eyes.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw some movement. A familiar oversized asshole was watching us. Al sat only two tables away with a full pizza sitting in front of him.

"Oh god. That jerk is watching us." Lance said with disgust. He stood up, but I put a hand on his shoulder.

"I got it," I said. He looked between Al and I, worried but nodded. I got up and walked over to Al.

"Hey, Keithy noticed you were on a little gay-cation here. I thought I'd come to see if you finished the homework I sent you." He said. Shoving a slice of pizza in his mouth, getting grease everywhere.

"You didn't give me any homework," I said.

"Maybe you haven't checked your phone. I sent you something this morning. Or were you too busy fucking McLame over there to notice?" He asked. I clenched my fists.

"I'll get it done tonight," I said through gritted teeth. He and I had a stare down, neither of us backing down.

"What's going on over here?" I heard Lance say as he walked up behind me.

"Oh, nothing. Keithy here is my science partner and I was just asking him if he got the notes." Al said.

"Listen, Al, I don't know why you've been so close to Keith lately but if you try anything just know I will personally beat the shit out of you if you hurt him," Lance said, stepping in front of me protectively.

"Relax Lance, we are good friends, aren't we Keithy?" Al said. I slowly nodded.

"Y-Yeah." I cleared my throat, "Yeah. We are." I said.

"In fact, he just asked me if he could get a ride home. Didn't you Keith?" He asked. I gulped and nodded again.

"Yeah...we were going to work on our project together," I said. Lance looked skeptically between Al and I.

"Who's going to take your bike home if you're getting a ride?" Lance asked slowly.

"I..." I trailed off.

"I can take it when we're done here if you want." He said quietly. I nodded.

Why would he offer to do that? Shiro said he hated motorcycles.

"When are you leaving?" Lance asked.

"Right now as a matter of fact," Al said, grabbing my arm. I shot Lance a 'help me' look but he didn't seem to notice.

"I'll take your bag too I guess," Lance said. I nodded as Al pulled me out of the food court, shooting Lance one more pleading glance, unsure if he got the message.


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING More angst

Keith

Al dragged me to his car, a red beat up '93 Ford pickup, the driver seat looked like a whale had stretched it out.

We drove for a while, past my house, passed Lance's house, even passed the school. Where was he taking me?

We stopped in an abandoned junkyard. He drove far enough in that you wouldn't be able to see us from the other side of the huge fence that surrounded the junkyard.

"You know, I really wish you didn't let your lover get involved. Now things are all messed up." Al said.

He got out of the car and walked to my side. I was tempted to lock the car and drive away, leaving him in this junkyard, which I assumed was his home because he looked and smelled just like it.

He opened the door and pulled me out of the truck so hard I stumbled to the ground. He grabbed me by my hair and punched me right in the face.

"You know how much I hate messing up that pretty little face don't you Keithy?" He said as he punched again and again and again.

Just went I thought I was done and was sure my other eye was now bruised as well, I started to get up.

"Oh, you thought it was over. No no no, we're just getting started. He went to the back of his truck and pulled out a baseball bat.

"I wanted to show my gratitude for getting me on the team." He said, grinning maliciously.

He walked towards me slowly, as if savoring the fear in my eyes.

Once he stood above me he got ready to swing, the bat raised. I closed my eyes and braced for impact, but it never came. I heard a loud thump. And what felt like a shoe hitting the back of my head. I slowly started to black out, but not before seeing a tall brunette standing over me.

<><><><>

I woke up on a large couch in an unfamiliar place. There was an ice pack on the side of my face. I started to sit up but winced in pain. What happened?

I remembered the mall, seeing Al,   
Al took me to a junkyard, then-

"Hey, you're awake!" Said a familiar Cuban boy. Lance walked out of what looked like a kitchen and sat on a chair that was pulled up beside the couch I was in. He lifted the ice pack slowly.

"It's not that bad. You don't need to go to the hospital or anything. You might have a minor concussion from him kicking you though. He said. His face serious as he checked on several cuts and scrapes on my face and arms.

I stayed silent.

"How long has he been doing this?" Lance asked, focusing his big blue eyes on me. Staring into them made me want to forget all the pain and loss I had endured and swim in his two oceans forever.

"This was the firs-"

"Please don't lie Keith. I know you bought concealer to cover up a bruise." He said. I looked away ashamed.

"I..." I started to say, but then I noticed something. I was wearing different clothes. My shirt replaced by one that was too big to be my own.

Panicked I looked at Lance. He looked away.

"Did you..." I started to say but I couldn't finish my sentence. He put his hand on mine.

"I'm sorry Keith. Your shirt was torn and you were cold, so I put you in one of mine. And well..." Lance said. I felt tears gather in the corners of my eyes.

I wanted to run.

I needed to run.

So I did.

I threw the covers off of me and pushed him away. He fell backward in his chair.

"Keith!"

Despite the pain in my head and stomach I got up and ran for the door.

Lance scrambled to get up and go after me, but before he even got to his feet I was out the door. I ran down the stairs and out of the apartment building. I heard Lance call my name. I was pretty sure he was faster than me. There was no way I could run from him in my condition.

That's when I saw it. My motorcycle parked right next to Lance's car. The keys still in it. I quickly got on, shoving the helmet off the seat. As soon as I got it running I kicked it into gear. And as I started to drive off I looked back and saw Lance holding the helmet that had landed on the concrete.

I turned the corner and he was gone. I knew there was only one place I could go that they would never find me.

<><><><>

It was a two and a half hour drive in cold winds and rain. Not to mention I only wore sweats pants and an over-sized shirt that belonged to Lance.

I pulled up to the property that I hadn't been to since my last family, which I realized was only like a month ago but still.

3rd Person

There was a large grassy field full of wildflowers and weeds. Memories of playing with the family dog in that very field, picking the dandelions, making them into poorly constructed flower crowns with her mother.

 

****  
"Kathy." She would call out every day. The small violet-eyed girl, of the bright age of four, would bring the flowers in a small baby blue basket every day. 

"Momma, can you make me a crown again?" The girl asked, as she held up the remnants of the previous crown, which had been trampled by the dog that always followed her. 

"Of course sweetheart. Would you like me to teach you how?" The older woman asked. Kathy nodded eagerly. The woman smiled. She looked to be in her mid-twenties with dark brown hair and purple-blue eyes that almost matched the young girl's own eyes. 

The woman weaved the stems of the flowers together slowly to show the young girl the pattern. 

She watched in awe as her mother's magic made a pile of flowers into a tiara of beauty.   
****

Keith drove slowly up the long road that stood parallel to the field. In the distance, he saw a big maple tree, covered in colorful leaves of brown, orange, and yellow. From a lower branch hung a rope, with a small tire at the end.

****

She swung back and forth. 

Back and forth. 

Back and forth. 

"Kathy." Mother called. She looked slightly older. Kathy did as well. Being only five years old. Kathy's small feet just barely touched the touched the ground, giving herself enough momentum to push the swing herself without the help of Mother. 

The tire belonged to Kathy's Dad's old truck. Her parents had tied it to the tree in their yard for Kathy to swing on. 

Mother had specifically told Kathy to stay off the swing after dinner. Kathy, of course, snuck out and went to swing on it again. She wasn't very sneaky because Mother was calling her not one minute later. 

Mother walked over and plucked Kathy off the swing, bringing her inside. 

"Sweetie you can't be outside after dark." She said as she ran her hand through Kathy's soft black hair.

"Why Momma?" 

"Because there are bad people out there honey. And they could kidnap you. Or hurt you. So you need to stay inside so we can keep you safe." Mother said. 

****

Keith finally parked in front of the old abandoned workshop where his father used to work on trucks. Because it was made of metal, it still stood to this day. Everything inside untouched for nearly a decade.

Keith pushed open the door with difficulty and went inside. He was bombarded with memories that he suppressed. He always loved his father but when he was working in the shop, he wasn't the same person.

Keith walked through the shop looking at the car parts and mechanical junk that his father hoarded. Once they were nice and clean, kept on shelves and properly put together. Now they were scattered everywhere, broken, covered in cobwebs, dust, and scorch marks.

As he walked he noticed a small mechanical toy cat his father made for him a long time ago. The Red paint had long since chipped off.

****

Momma! Momma! Look what Papa made me!" Kathy said, jumping around the kitchen with excitement. 

"What is it Kathy," Mother asked, looking down at the piece of robotics. 

"It's a kitty! Papa made it for me. She's sooo pretty!" Kathy said, holding it up for her Mother to see. 

"Hmm..." She said as she examined the silver lion. It was missing something. 

"Would you like me to paint her for you, Kathy?" She asked. Kathy's eyes went wide. 

"Yes Yes Yes! Will, you pleeeeeaase paint it, Momma!" Kathy said. Her mother smiled. She went to a cupboard and pulled out a set of paints, which were always around as she was a freelance artist. She looked at all the paints thinking carefully about which one she wanted to use. Then she finally settled on a Ruby Red. 

When she was done she showed her daughter the lion. 

"Thank you so much, Momma! I love her even moooore!" Kathy said, stretching the O for way too long. She went to grab the cat but her mother stopped her. 

"You have to wait until it dries. Or it won't stay red." Mother said. Kathy smiled, one of her front teeth missing, and nodded. 

"Okay, Momma!"

****

Once upon a time, Keith had four others. One black, one green, one blue, and one yellow. They would play with them from dusk till dawn.

He picked up the lion and managed to put it in his pocket. It stuck out of the pocket just enough to make it obvious.

He continued to walk but he didn't find anything else he recognizes as well as the lion. Nothing that sparked another painful memory of her,  
Kathrine.

He left the shop quickly and went back to his bike. He set the lion in a small compartment that he usually put his helmet in when he wasn't wearing it.

He took a deep breath before turning to the charred house. It was intact enough that he could walk inside safely without falling through the floor. The roof collapsed in at parts but the upstairs was still intact enough to walk in. He knows because he had wandered here in times of sadness many times in the past.

Keith swallowed the lump in his throat and walked up to the porch.

The smell of smoke still seemed fresh in the air, as if it was still burning.

He slowly walked inside the house. They had cleared the debris that blocked the door years ago. That's when they found the bodies.

Tears formed in Keith's eyes.

"I....I-I'm s-so sorry m-m-mom..." He sobbed.

He still blamed himself for what happened that tragic night.

<><><><>

Kathy sat on the porch swing watching the stars. It was nearly four in the morning. Her eleventh birthday was just days ago. Her parents promised her she could watch the stars tonight all by herself. 

But she had something else in mind. 

She wanted to see the stars up close. 

Down the street from her was a water tower. It had a ladder all the way to the top. She always wanted to go up there. Her Mother always told her to reach for the stars. And that's what she was going to do. She was old enough to think that all the horror stories of people kidnapping children were just stories her Mother told her to keep her from wandering off or going out past bedtime. 

Little did she know that someone was watching her that night. Someone who wouldn't make her flower crowns or push her on the swing. 

As she snuck to the water tower she heard movement behind her. She looked back and saw two men in dark clothes. Her eyes wide she started to run. The men chased her.

As she ran she tripped over a large bucket. The bucket, full of water, was used for the family dogs water bowl, even though it was a five-gallon bucket too heavy for Kathy to lift. 

The water splashed out of the bucket and hit a large piece of mechanics that powered the house. As soon the water hit it, it started to spark and catch fire. The Flames found their way into the house. 

Kathy had sworn she had heard her parents desperately calling "Kathrine!" 

Kathy screamed and tried to run but the men grabbed her, hitting her in the head to knock her unconscious. 

They ran to the end of the property away from the fire but as they heard sirens they dropped Kathy. She fell face first in the gravel unconscious. The men continued to run but didn't get far. The police caught up to them before they could escape. The fire department and an ambulance came. They found Kathy in the middle of the road. 

But by the time they got to the house, it was too late. Mr. and Mrs. Kogane had died of smoke inhalation, their bodies burnt beyond recognition. 

Kathy woke up the next morning in a panic. She saw them. She saw them die. In a nightmare that haunted her for years to come. She stood in the doorway to her home the day before she was taken by the state crying. She knew it was her fault. She knew she killed them. 

<><><><>

Keith stood in the same place he stood seven years ago. Saying the same things he had said the day he left.

He never told anyone. Not a single person knew what a monster he was. The two men who had assaulted him had been killed in a car accident on the way to prison. Only he knew what had really happened that sorrowful night.

"I-I should have known b-better. I...I'm so s-s-sorry mom and dad." He muttered then and now. Of course, he hadn't gone trans at that moment, with him only being eleven. But three years later, when his third adopted family died in a boating accident, which he blamed on himself, he decided he needed to become someone else. His lawyer agreed to help change records and convince everyone he wasn't Kathrine Kogane anymore.

But inside he still knew he was the same monster he was the night of the murder.


	14. Chapter 14

Keith

I knew I shouldn't have come here.

I knew I couldn't handle the guilt. Every other time I had driven out here to run away I had never gotten past the old oak tree.

I thought I'd be able to handle it.

But as soon as I reached the doorway I crumpled to the floor.

I stayed that way for an hour.

The tears dried. I had none left.

That was it. It had to be eleven at night, still Saturday somehow.

This was the fastest I had ever been discovered. I finally had friends, a family I liked, even my own room....but that would be all gone now. Gay is one thing but when they went to adopt they were looking for a new son, not a daughter.

I could hear the whispers of my Mother.

"Kathy." She called.

"I'm not Kathy anymore." I cried.

"Kathy." She called again.

"Stop!" I pleaded.

"Kathy!" Her voice rang again.

"N-No....please!" I begged.

"Keith!" I heard. It didn't sound like his mother. It was male. Maybe his father?

"I'm so sorry!" I cried.

"Keith!" The voice called again. I curled up in a ball at the base of the stairs, unable to move or speak anymore.

"Keith!" It rang.

No, Leave me be. 

"Keith!" 

Leave me here alone. 

"Keith!" 

Leave me here to die. 

Footsteps sounded from the porch.

"K-Keith...?" The voice sounded hesitant as if it didn't know if it should be saying, Keith or Kathy.

Let me die here. 

Keith heard footsteps again. When they reached him they halted.

"K-Keith?" The voice sounded almost human.

He felt a hand on his back, rubbing circles. His mother rubbed the same pattern in the same place when he was sick.

"M-Mom...?" I asked. Maybe she didn't die. Maybe she forgave me.

"No Keith." The voice said.

"Dad?" I asked.

"No." The voice seemed distant.

"Mom, Dad. It's me, Kathy. I...I came back." I whispered, under my breath. I single tear ran down my cheek. Suddenly, a soft hand cupped my cheek, wiping the tear away. I gasped.

"Keith. It's ok." The voice said. I looked up and saw it wasn't my mom, nor my dad, but him. Lance. He was here with me, in the house I swore I would never show anyone. The house where they died.

"L-Lance?" I called out, hoping he was just another illusion, like the memories. But he wasn't a memory.

"It's okay Keith." He said again. He pulled me into a warm embrace. I buried my face in the crook of his neck.

"I'm sorry Keith. I know you didn't want me to find out this way." He whispered.

I didn't say anything. I wanted to run but I didn't know where I'd go. I wanted to struggle from his grip but he was stronger than me. I wanted to speak but my voice didn't work.

So I just leaned into him. Taking in the smell of the cheap ocean breeze cologne he always wore.

"Keith..." Lance said.

"Kathy...my name...its-its Kathy," I said quietly.

"Kathy." He said, "I'm sorry. I know you didn't want me to follow you here but there is something I had to tell you."

"Lance..." He cut me off.

"I don't care if your a boy or a girl. I don't care of your straight or gay, religious or atheist, Keith or Kathy, your still my friend. Your still human. And nothing will change the fact that your still my friend. Nothing will change the fact that your an amazing person that, albeit has a bit of a temper, but is loyal to their friend. Heck, you only knew me for like three days but you drove out to near Shady Oaks to pick me up when my car broke down. I promise I won't tell anyone about this until your ready. And you won't have to worry about Al anymore." Lance said. He ran his fingers through my hair.

"In just a week, I've come to know this...truly spectacular person and...I-I really care about you Keith, Kathy." He said. Then he leaned down and kissed my forehead.

"I...I." I stuttered. He loosened his embrace and looked at me with his two blue eyes, his two gorgeous blue eyes.

"I want to go home..." I said quietly. He nodded.

"I can text Shiro and make sure he leaves the do it unlocked," Lance said, pulling out his phone. I grabbed his wrist.

"Can...Can I stay with you?" I asked. His face went a bit red, as did mine.

"S-Sure." He said, his voice cracking. He cleared his throat.

"I'm guessing you're not going to be able to drive back." He asked. I shook my head.

"But I don't want to leave my bike," I said.

"It's ok. I have Shiro's truck. My car...well it broke down like as soon as I pulled off my street. So Shiro said I could use his truck." He said. My eyes widened.

"You didn't tell him did you!?" I asked quickly. He shook his head.

"No, I just asked him if I could use it to visit my cousins." He said.

"Wait...How did you find me?" I asked.

"Well, when Al took you Pidge helped me track your phone to find you. I didn't turn it off yet." He said. I nodded.

"That sounds kind of stalker-ish but whatever," I muttered. Lance laughed.

"Come on, we need to get your bike into the back of the truck," Lance said.

I walked with him out of the house. Lance pushed the bike over to the back of the truck.

"Come in, help me lift it," Lance said.

"Lance, my bike is almost six hundred pounds, you're not going to be able to lift it even with my help," I said. He attempted to pick it up by the front, struggling in a humorous way. I rolled my eyes.

"Hold on dumb ass," I said. I walked towards the shop slowly. There were several pieces of wood in front of it. I grabbed one that was wide enough to work and brought it over to the truck, propping it up on the open tailgate like a ramp. We pushed the bike up the ramp and set the brakes.

"Shouldn't we tie it down or something?" Lance asked.

"I think I have some bungee cords in the shop," I said. Lance nods and walks with me.

"Are you sure you can go in there without...you know..." Lance asked as we paused in front of the shop doors.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I came in here before...the house." I said. He nodded, took my hand, and walked in with me.   
I didn't release his hand, I needed the reassurance.

I pushed the door open and we walked in. Lance pulled out his phone to use as a flashlight. I knew the place by memory so maneuvering the mess was easy.

"You search here in the front, I'll make my way to the back and look," I said. Lance nodded, our hands disconnected. I made my way to the back of the shop. I had to climb over two old black 1967 Impalas. My dad had a crazy obsession with that specific car.

Once I was on the other side of the cars when I heard Lance call,

"So did your dad keep them in like a bag or something or are we just looking for the cords scattered around the place?"

"He had them wrapped in a bundle. I think they were yellow." I said.

"So...how far back does your memory go? How do you remember specifics like this?" Lance asked.

"I...I get flashbacks a lot. I, well... sometimes I see dreams." I said. Lance was silent.

I continued to look for the bungee cords. Eventually, I found them, exactly where I thought they would be.

"Hey Lance, I found them!" I called. I grabbed them and made my way back, climbing over the cars.

"Um...Keith, your family didn't happen to have a cat did they?" Lance asked.

"Yeah, why?" I asked.

"Um...you might want to come over here," Lance said. I walked to where he was standing, which was right next to a truck engine and about twelve car batteries. 

"What is it?" I asked. He pointed to a spot just under a table covered in car parts. I looked and saw a familiar pet. Our family cat buttercup, yes she was named after the cat on hunger games, she was a yellow cat with white stripes. But the cat before me was a dirty orange cat with patchy fur and a torn ear. Not to mention it was dead and had two kittens cuddling up next to it. One kitten was a tuxedo cat with cute little white sock paws. The other was an orange tabby.

"Oh god. I mean, I never like that cat but...I always thought it died in the fire." I said.

"The kittens are both alive! We should keep them," Lance said.

"Shiro's dad is allergic to cats," I said.

"I'll keep them at my house." He said. The kittens looked no more than four months old, which explains why I had never seen them before. I wondered how I had never seen buttercup, then again that cat hated me.

Lance leaned down and gently picked up the nearly starved kittens. He took off the blue pullover he was wearing and wrapped them in it.

We walked back to the truck, set the kittens in the back seat, strapped the bike in place, and got in the car. Lance drove out of the driveway.

We stopped at the end of the gravel road that led to my house.

"Stop," I said. Lance stopped and I got out of the car. I walked over to a small mailbox with colorful handprints on it. There was a small pair of red ones with the name Kathrine under it. I opened the mailbox and found at least twenty envelopes in the mailbox.

I pulled them out and got back in the car, setting them on the floor.

"You can go now," I told Lance. He nodded and we left the cursed property behind us.


	15. Chapter 15

Lance

 

Keith fell asleep on the car ride back. He curled up against the window with...wait a minute, is that my green jacket? I mean I gave it to him to use a while ago but forgot he still had it.

It was kind of cute how he cuddled up to it.

Yes, I said it. He was cute. And I'm not going to go back and be all like, oh I didn't mean that I don't like him. The truth was, I do like him a lot. Sure he had a temper but he was really sweet and let's face it, he was fuckin hot.

As for the trans thing, it didn't bother me at all. I like girls and guys. He looked like a guy and had the anatomy of a girl. That worked for me.

The kittens hadn't moved much in the back. I was worried they might die on the way home. Thankfully I had cat food and a litter box at home because I planned on taking my grandma's cat before she died. In her will, she apparently had left it with my cousins.

<><><><>

It was around 2 in the morning when we pulled up to my apartment building. Keith tried to walk up the stairs but kept missing the step.

"Here let me help, you're too tired," I said. I picked him up bridal style and carried him up the stairs. He leaned his head into my shoulder and by the time we were at the top, he had fallen asleep.

With difficulty, I unlocked the door and carried him inside. Once inside I carried him down to my room and laid him on my bed. I covered him up, grabbed a blanket, and turned to make my way to the living room. Before I could leave, however, I felt a hand grip my wrist.

"Can you...stay with me?" Keith asked. I hesitantly said,

"Um...sure. Yeah, I can stay."

I quickly changed into something a little more comfortable and crawled into the bed, laying next to him.

"W-Why is your house so cold?" Keith asked in a whisper. He was shivering, despite being under a heavy blanket.

"Because I can't afford heating," I whispered back. I felt him scoot closer, leaning his head against my arm.

"Night Lance." He said. I felt my face burn up so much that if I had raw bacon on my face you'd hear it sizzle.

"Goodnight Keith," I said. Then I closed my eyes and drifted off.

<><><><>

The next morning I woke up with Keith clutching to me. He looked cute when he was asleep. He wasn't scowling or glaring like he usually was. His face was peaceful. Like nothing wrong had ever happened to him.

I managed to untangle myself from his grasp and get up. Today was Sunday and I had things I needed to do.

I dressed in all black formal clothes that my grandma had gotten me only last year for my sister's funeral. Something tells me she knew I'd wear it for her funeral too.

~~~~  
"Abuela, I'm only going to wear it once, why bother getting a size bigger?" I asked my Abeula as she handed me the outfit we had chosen in a size bigger. 

"Because Nieto, you never know when you may grow again. It fits you perfectly one day then the next, auge! It doesn't fit. You are a growing boy Nieto, you need to know how to buy the right clothes." Abeula said as she pushed me to the cash register. 

"But the funeral is tomorrow Abeula, no veo el punto." I complained. 

"No Debes asumir que Sophia es la única persona que perderás. Todos Finalmente moriremos Nieto." Abeula said. I frowned, but said nothing, as we paid for the clothes.  
~~~~

I wrote out a note for Keith so that he didn't panic when he woke up.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out.

Cuzy Cuz: I'm waiting out front, you better not have slept in again.

Me: relájate Bianca, recordé despertarme esta vez

Cuzy Cuz: Abeula would have come back to kick your ass if you slept through it.

Me: then she would have kicked yours for using that language

Cuzy Cuz: Shut up and get down here.

I rolled my eyes and walked out the door, locking it behind me. I left a spare key for Keith to use in case he decided to go home.

My cousin, Bianca, offered to pick me up because my car was broken. Bianca McClain was 21 years old. She had two boys, twins, named Elijah and Benjamin. They both had dark brown hair like their mom and tanned skin like everyone in the McClain clan. Benji's hair was shorter and his eyes were blue. Eli had green eyes, just like his mom. They were five this year. Bianca's ex-boyfriend, a controlling asshole got her pregnant at 17 then walked out on her. He got arrested a while later for attempted kidnapping, and murder of some couple who lived far out of town. We weren't worried about what he would do when he got out because he died on his way to the police station.

But Bianca and I both agree that she would never take back her choice to be with him. We both love Eli and Benji too much to give them up. Abuela was of course, shocked at first, but she was happy to get great grand-kids. She had been living with us at the time, my parents had almost kicked her out. Until they realized her boyfriend was an abusive asshole, that's when the McClain Family all came together to hunt down the asshole and teach him a lesson. I still remember the day that Sophia, Javier (Bianca's younger brother), and I all beat the crap out of him. Nobody messes with a member of the McClain Family.

I walked out to the car and saw the twins in the back. And as soon as I got into the car they tried to jump into the front seat to give me hugs but Bianca kept them back.

"Tio! Tio! I lost another tooth!" Benji said, opening his mouth to show his missing tooth.

"Awesome, did the tooth fairy give you any money?" I asked. He shook his head. Then pulled a note out of his pocket.

"She gave me this." He said, handing me the note.

I.O.U.  
I owe you $1.00  
Sorry for the inconvenience.  
:(

As soon as I read it I laughed. Then looked at Bianca.

"I guess the tooth fairy should pick up an extra shift at work. And one dollar, does she live in a box under the bridge or something?" I asked. Bianca rolled her eyes. I pulled out my wallet and grabbed a 5.

"It just so happened the tooth fairy asked me to give you this," I said, handing Benji the 5. He smiled.

"Lance, don't spoil my children," Bianca said.

"It wasn't me. It was the tooth fairy." I said with a wink.

"And for your information, I do have an extra shift at work. It's just hard when Javi is at home eating all the food. He won't even get a job." Bianca said. Javi was one of Bianca's two siblings. His parents kicked him out and Bianca offered to take him in.

"Threaten to kick him out. He'll get a job." I said.

"Are you the tooth fairy Tio Lance?" Eli asked. I laughed.

"No, but he is the gayest fairy in all the land," Bianca said.

"What makes you say that?" I asked, laughing lightly. My family all knew I was Bi of course, but her saying something like this meant she probably saw me with a guy.

"I saw your Snapchat. All week it's been full of that Hot Topic, probably still crying about Mcr, emo ass guy." She said. I laughed.

"What makes you think I like him?" I asked.

"Please, if he's on your Snapchat more than your selfies are then I doubt he's more than just a friend." She said.

"Yeah, I guess your right there," I said.

"Come on, give me the details." She said, "What's his name, how did you meet, how is he in bed, what's he like?"

"His name is Keith, he's Shiro's new brother, we aren't together so I wouldn't know, and he's....well, he is a bit emo but he's really really sweet. Plus he has a nice ass." I said

"You said Ass!" Benji said loudly. Bianca smacked him.

"Yeah and if you say it again I'll take your tooth fairy money away." She said.

I laughed. She reminded me so much of Mom. And Abeula.

"That's cool. I guess we'll get to meet him soon, the Shirogane's are coming to the family reunion is in November." She said.

"I'm sure you'll stalk us to try and meet him sooner," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Sounds about right." She said, "Why haven't you asked him out yet, usually you have the hotties digits by now."

"For your information, I do have the hotties digits. He gave me his Snapchat on Monday. But I haven't asked him out yet." I said.

"Why not? Don't tell me you're scared of him rejecting you?" She said.

"No...well...yeah but it's a few other things I'd rather not get into," I said. Bianca rolled her eyes.

"Your no fun." She said. Then she was silent for the rest of the trip.


	16. Chapter 16

Lance

 

Keith fell asleep on the car ride back. He curled up against the window with...wait a minute, is that my green jacket? I mean I gave it to him to use a while ago but forgot he still had it.

It was kind of cute how he cuddled up to it.

Yes, I said it. He was cute. And I'm not going to go back and be all like, oh I didn't mean that I don't like him. The truth was, I do like him a lot. Sure he had a temper but he was really sweet and let's face it, he was fuckin hot.

As for the trans thing, it didn't bother me at all. I like girls and guys. He looked like a guy and had the anatomy of a girl. That worked for me.

The kittens hadn't moved much in the back. I was worried they might die on the way home. Thankfully I had cat food and a litter box at home because I planned on taking my grandma's cat before she died. In her will, she apparently had left it with my cousins.

<><><><>

It was around 2 in the morning when we pulled up to my apartment building. Keith tried to walk up the stairs but kept missing the step.

"Here let me help, you're too tired," I said. I picked him up bridal style and carried him up the stairs. He leaned his head into my shoulder and by the time we were at the top, he had fallen asleep.

With difficulty, I unlocked the door and carried him inside. Once inside I carried him down to my room and laid him on my bed. I covered him up, grabbed a blanket, and turned to make my way to the living room. Before I could leave, however, I felt a hand grip my wrist.

"Can you...stay with me?" Keith asked. I hesitantly said,

"Um...sure. Yeah, I can stay."

I quickly changed into something a little more comfortable and crawled into the bed, laying next to him.

"W-Why is your house so cold?" Keith asked in a whisper. He was shivering, despite being under a heavy blanket.

"Because I can't afford heating," I whispered back. I felt him scoot closer, leaning his head against my arm.

"Night Lance." He said. I felt my face burn up so much that if I had raw bacon on my face you'd hear it sizzle.

"Goodnight Keith," I said. Then I closed my eyes and drifted off.

<><><><>

The next morning I woke up with Keith clutching to me. He looked cute when he was asleep. He wasn't scowling or glaring like he usually was. His face was peaceful. Like nothing wrong had ever happened to him.

I managed to untangle myself from his grasp and get up. Today was Sunday and I had things I needed to do.

I dressed in all black formal clothes that my grandma had gotten me only last year for my sister's funeral. Something tells me she knew I'd wear it for her funeral too.

~~~~  
"Abuela, I'm only going to wear it once, why bother getting a size bigger?" I asked my Abeula as she handed me the outfit we had chosen in a size bigger. 

"Because Nieto, you never know when you may grow again. It fits you perfectly one day then the next, auge! It doesn't fit. You are a growing boy Nieto, you need to know how to buy the right clothes." Abeula said as she pushed me to the cash register. 

"But the funeral is tomorrow Abeula, no veo el punto." I complained. 

"No Debes asumir que Sophia es la única persona que perderás. Todos Finalmente moriremos Nieto." Abeula said. I frowned, but said nothing, as we paid for the clothes.   
~~~~

I wrote out a note for Keith so that he didn't panic when he woke up.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out.

Cuzy Cuz: I'm waiting out front, you better not have slept in again.

Me: relájate Bianca, recordé despertarme esta vez

Cuzy Cuz: Abeula would have come back to kick your ass if you slept through it.

Me: then she would have kicked yours for using that language

Cuzy Cuz: Shut up and get down here.

I rolled my eyes and walked out the door, locking it behind me. I left a spare key for Keith to use in case he decided to go home.

My cousin, Bianca, offered to pick me up because my car was broken. Bianca McClain was 21 years old. She had two boys, twins, named Elijah and Benjamin. They both had dark brown hair like their mom and tanned skin like everyone in the McClain clan. Benji's hair was shorter and his eyes were blue. Eli had green eyes, just like his mom. They were five this year. Bianca's ex-boyfriend, a controlling asshole got her pregnant at 17 then walked out on her. He got arrested a while later for attempted kidnapping, and murder of some couple who lived far out of town. We weren't worried about what he would do when he got out because he died on his way to the police station.

But Bianca and I both agree that she would never take back her choice to be with him. We both love Eli and Benji too much to give them up. Abuela was of course, shocked at first, but she was happy to get great grand-kids. She had been living with us at the time, my parents had almost kicked her out. Until they realized her boyfriend was an abusive asshole, that's when the McClain Family all came together to hunt down the asshole and teach him a lesson. I still remember the day that Sophia, Javier (Bianca's younger brother), and I all beat the crap out of him. Nobody messes with a member of the McClain Family.

I walked out to the car and saw the twins in the back. And as soon as I got into the car they tried to jump into the front seat to give me hugs but Bianca kept them back.

"Tio! Tio! I lost another tooth!" Benji said, opening his mouth to show his missing tooth.

"Awesome, did the tooth fairy give you any money?" I asked. He shook his head. Then pulled a note out of his pocket.

"She gave me this." He said, handing me the note.

I.O.U.  
I owe you $1.00  
Sorry for the inconvenience.   
:(

As soon as I read it I laughed. Then looked at Bianca.

"I guess the tooth fairy should pick up an extra shift at work. And one dollar, does she live in a box under the bridge or something?" I asked. Bianca rolled her eyes. I pulled out my wallet and grabbed a 5.

"It just so happened the tooth fairy asked me to give you this," I said, handing Benji the 5. He smiled.

"Lance, don't spoil my children," Bianca said.

"It wasn't me. It was the tooth fairy." I said with a wink.

"And for your information, I do have an extra shift at work. It's just hard when Javi is at home eating all the food. He won't even get a job." Bianca said. Javi was one of Bianca's two siblings. His parents kicked him out and Bianca offered to take him in.

"Threaten to kick him out. He'll get a job." I said.

"Are you the tooth fairy Tio Lance?" Eli asked. I laughed.

"No, but he is the gayest fairy in all the land," Bianca said.

"What makes you say that?" I asked, laughing lightly. My family all knew I was Bi of course, but her saying something like this meant she probably saw me with a guy.

"I saw your Snapchat. All week it's been full of that Hot Topic, probably still crying about Mcr, emo ass guy." She said. I laughed.

"What makes you think I like him?" I asked.

"Please, if he's on your Snapchat more than your selfies are then I doubt he's more than just a friend." She said.

"Yeah, I guess your right there," I said.

"Come on, give me the details." She said, "What's his name, how did you meet, how is he in bed, what's he like?"

"His name is Keith, he's Shiro's new brother, we aren't together so I wouldn't know, and he's....well, he is a bit emo but he's really really sweet. Plus he has a nice ass." I said

"You said Ass!" Benji said loudly. Bianca smacked him.

"Yeah and if you say it again I'll take your tooth fairy money away." She said.

I laughed. She reminded me so much of Mom. And Abeula.

"That's cool. I guess we'll get to meet him soon, the Shirogane's are coming to the family reunion is in November." She said.

"I'm sure you'll stalk us to try and meet him sooner," I said, rolling my eyes.

"Sounds about right." She said, "Why haven't you asked him out yet, usually you have the hotties digits by now."

"For your information, I do have the hotties digits. He gave me his Snapchat on Monday. But I haven't asked him out yet." I said.

"Why not? Don't tell me you're scared of him rejecting you?" She said.

"No...well...yeah but it's a few other things I'd rather not get into," I said. Bianca rolled her eyes.

"Your no fun." She said. Then she was silent for the rest of the trip.


	17. Chapter 17

The appointment went well. The vet gave me a special type of food that would help the cats gain a little more weight since they were extremely underweight.

I dropped the kittens off at the house, leaving them some food and water. I would probably check in on them later. But for now, I wanted to find out why Shiro was acting so weird on the phone.

Once I got close to the house I parked around the corner so he wouldn't see the truck.

I walked to the house and opened the front door quietly. As soon as I got inside I heard laughter from the living room. I stealthily snuck down the hall to the edge of the living room. I peaked my head around the corner.

And what I saw amazed me. I saw the back of Shiro's head as he sat on the couch with...Pidge? She seemed strangely taller than I remembered. And was Shiro Shirtless?

"What should we watch next?" Shiro asked. Pidge turned and I saw that is wasn't Pidge, but Matt!

"I don't know. You pick this time." Matt said.

"Come on, you know I'm bad at picking movies. Last time I picked a movie you abandoned me because you didn't like it." Shiro complained.

"That's because you picked IT. You know I hate clowns." Matt said. Shiro frowned.

"I promise I won't leave this time," Matt said. He leaned over and gave Shiro a kiss on the forehead!

"We should really tell the others soon," Matt said. Shiro frowned.

"I just don't want them to think we're weird. And Allura...I know she likes me. I've always gotten the vibe from Pidge that I shouldn't date you. I don't think Hunk or Lance would really care. I've only known Keith for a week." Shiro said.

"Takashi," Matt said, "They're our friends. You already came out to them."

"But it's you. Pidge is super protective over you and...What if they get mad. I don't want to lose Allura. She's an amazing friend and everyone else..." Shiro trailed off.

"Listen. They aren't going to care if we're dating. They're just going to be pissed that we've hidden it for six months." Matt said. Shiro laughed.

"Yeah. Let's just get back to movies. Keith could be home any minute. I should probably put my Shirt back on." Shiro said. He looked like he was going to stand up but Matt pulled him back onto the couch.

"No! Keith will call when he comes home. You're going to stay and we're going to watch more movies." Matt said.

"Ok. I'll stay if you pick the movie." Shiro said.

"Fine. I think the Pokemon movie is on Hulu." Matt said.

"Pokemon? Wow, Matt your such a nerd Matt." Shiro said. Matt shot him a look.

"But I'm your nerd," Matt said. Shiro smiled.

"Yeah, you are. Now get over here and help me. This popcorn isn't going to eat itself." Shiro said. Matt scooted closer to Shiro and they turned on the movie.

As shocked as I was I decided not to confront them. It was there secret and I probably shouldn't just expose them like that. I quietly snuck back out the house and made my way back to the truck.

I left my phone in the car. I didn't want it going off while I was sneaking up on Shiro. When I got back in the truck I had a text from Lance.

Sexy Boi- Hey, I'm on my way back.

I texted him back.

Me- I was going to go home but I...discovered something. Meet me @ Burger King?

Sexy Boi- Make it taco bell

I rolled my eyes and started the car. Making my way to Taco Bell.

It was around 1:30 pm when I pulled up. I went inside and didn't see Lance. I sat next to the window and pulled out my phone.

A few minutes later I saw a woman pull up in front of my window. You may have wondered why I noticed her. Well, she had two children, both about 5 or 6. They both clung to her legs. The woman herself looked to be in her mid-twenties. With long dark brown hair and tanned skin. Her eyes were dark green. She wore a black dress that hugged her hips, a black sun hat, and a pair of sunglasses. The only way I saw her eyes was because she wasn't wearing the sunglasses currently. She had little makeup on, enough to make it look somewhat natural. The two kids clinging to her looked just like her, except the one on the left had blue eyes and shorter hair while the other one had green and his hair was slightly longer and messier. They both wore black outfits that were matching. I assumed they were twins.

That's when I saw Lance get out of the car behind them and pick up the blue-eyed one and ruffled his hair. Lance was also dressed in a black outfit so I assumed they went to Lance's Abeula's funeral. The woman pointed towards me and look at Lance, asking him something. He nodded and they walked into the building. The woman walked up to the counter to order and Lance walked over to sit down next to me.

"Hey man, hope you slept ok. My bed isn't that comfortable I'm afraid and I don't have heating so it's not that warm." Lance said.

"No, it was fine. Although your room is trashed. And your choice of posters is awful." I said.

"Hey! Don't dis on my girls. Beyonce, Nicki, and Britney are queens!" He complained. I smiled.

"I didn't even see the Britney one. Your room was so messy." I said, smirking.

"Hey, I'm a teenager living alone. What do you expect?" He complained.

"So what were you up to today?" I asked.

"Just, you know. Family stuff." Lance said, "What about you?"

"Well, I took the kittens by the vet. They gave me some special food to give them. I left it at your place. By the way, the Tuxedo one is named Toby. The Orange one is a girl." I said.

"You didn't have to do that. At least let me half the bill." Lance said.

"No, you paid for Dairy Queen a few days ago. And you're taking care of them. I can cover the doctor bill." I said. Lance was about to complain but the kids who came with him ran over to our table.

"Tio Lance!" They both said before climbing on him.

"Ah! Benji, Eli dame un poco de espacio, pequeños demonios!" Lance said, speaking his native tounge.

"Who's that?" The green-eyed boy asked, pointing to me.

"Eli, that's Keith. He's my friend." Lance explained. I smiled slightly and waved.

"Keith these are my nephews Eli and Benji." He said. The little kids waved at me.

"So the lady with you was your sister then?" I said. Lance's smile fell.

"No, she's my cousin Bianca. But they call me Tio." He said

"I'm going to assume Tio means uncle," I said. He nodded. Bianca walked over and set a tray on the table and took a seat next to Lance.

"You must be Keith. Lance has told me soooo much about you. I'm Bianca." She said smiling. She held out her hand and I shook it.

"I'm assuming Lance introduced you to my sons. Eli and Benji." She said. I nodded.

"Tio Lance said you have a nice ass," Benji said. Lance's face went red. Bianca swatted Benji and lectured him quietly.

"Did he now?" I asked, looking at Lance.

"Are you his boyfriend?" Eli asked. Lance's eyes went wide and covered his face with his hands.

"Boyfriend? No. We're just friends." I said. I'm sure my face was slightly pinker.

"Do you like him?" Eli asked.

"Why don't we eat our food!" Lance said quickly pushing a taco in Eli's mouth. He handed me a burrito.

"Here, we got you something too." He said, not looking at me.

"Thanks," I said, equally embarrassed.

"So. Shiro's your brother?" Bianca said, changing the subject. I looked at her and nodded.

"Yeah. He's a nice guy." I said.

"I know. I was his first girlfriend. His sophomore year. That's how he met Lance." Bianca said.

"Really? He told me he met Lance through Pidge and Hunk." I said.

"Oh, it's so like him to hide that. He doesn't like to mention me." She said.

"Wait. You're like 23, how did you and Shiro date?" I asked.

"First of all, I'm twenty-one, as of a week ago. Second. We dated when I was a senior and he was a sophomore." She said.

"You dated underclassmen?" I asked.

"Yeah, well I had two three-year-olds at the time and I was trying to get some help. Shiro was nice enough to help with them when mi Familia couldn't. We don't talk anymore though. He feels bad for how things ended." She said.

"How did things end?" I asked.

"Well. I found out he had....different interests. I decided it was best if we ended things." She said. Lance looked at her curiously, as if he hadn't heard the story either.

Suddenly Bianca stood up, picking up Benji.

"But that's all in the past." She said. She grabbed Eli's hand, who was still trying to finish his taco.

"We should go. I love you primo." She said.

"Love you, Tio!" The boys said.

"Love you too Prima. Be nice to your mother sobrinos. If I hear you swearing anymore Benji, No te daré tu próximo Regalo de cumpleaños." Lance said. Bianca quickly left the fast food place with her two kids.

"I guess you're getting my ride home," Lance said.

"Yeah...I guess." I said. We were silent for a moment.

"So what is this discovery you made." He asked, making this situation less uncomfortable.

"Oh. Well, I called Shiro when I got up and he was acting strange, telling me to call him when I decided to go home. Then when I got to the house guess who I saw him with?" I said. Lance leaned onto the table on his elbows, interested.

"Allura? I knew it! They've been making eyes at each other for a year now!" He said. I shook my head.

"Matt," I said. Lance's eyes went wide.

"Matt Holt!? Pidge's brother? The super nerd Matt?" He asked. I nodded.

"Well, they are best friends. Maybe they were just hanging." He said.

"Well, considering Shiro was shirtless and Matt was kissing him while calling Shiro by his first name I'd say they are a little more than bros," I said. His eyes went wide.

"O my God. The dad and the geek. It's like a fairy tale." Lance said.

"Yeah. And they've been together hiding it for 6 months." I said. Lance's jaw dropped.

"No way."

"Way. He's nervous to tell anyone because he thinks Allura and Pidge will get mad at him." I said. Lance nodded.

"Well, that's understandable. We probably shouldn't tell anyone else." He said.

"Yeah. They'll tell us when they're ready." I said. He nodded.

"Do you think you could drop me off at my place on your way home?" Lance asked.

"Well, I think I'll probably stay with you for a little while longer. Give Matt and Shiro a little more time to watch Pokemon and eat popcorn." I said. Lance laughed.

"Ok. But you should text him soon. If you keep staying at my place they'll be twice the laundry to do. I hate dirty laundry." He said.

"You complain too much," I said. I stood up.

"Come on. We should get back to your place. Toby and No Name are probably lonely." I said. He smiled.

We got in the car and drove back to Lance's place. We walked inside and sat on the couch. The kittens were both on it. Lance picked up the orange one.

"You're letting me name the girl then?" He asked. I nodded.

"Sophia." He said quickly, "Name her Sophia."

"I figured Beyonce," I said.

"Nope. Sophia, Beyonce is good but I like Sophia better." He said.

"Is...Is that your sister's name?" I asked. He looked at me suddenly.

"What?"

"Your sister. Those pictures in your room. There was a girl named Sophia." I said. He didn't talk for a while.

"Keith I am an only child." He said slowly.

"Then who is-"

"Not is....w-was." He said. I looked at him.

"Sophia...She was my sister. But...well about a year and a half ago she....my parents and her was driving....they were coming out to the beach. My Abuela and I...we were at the beach for a surfing contest I had entered. They were on their way when...." Lance paused for a minute. His eyes brimmed with tears ready to spill.

"There was a drunk driver. He crashed into my parent's car. My sister...she went into a coma. And my parents....well, they weren't the same." Lance refused to meet my eyes. But tears were falling.

"She died...two months later....that's when I moved out...I couldn't stay with my parents and I couldn't stay with my family. Because I knew it was my fault she got in that wreck. They wouldn't have gone to the beach if I didn't ask them to." He said. He was freely crying now, tears staining his tanned cheeks.

I wanted to comfort him but I wasn't sure how. So I did what he did when I was crying.

I pulled him into a tight embrace. Stroking his soft brown hair. Taking in his ocean scent.

Eventually, he pulled away.

"Thanks, Keith. I...I don't tell people about her often so do you think you can...."

"I promise I won't say a word," I said.


	18. Chapter 18

Lance

 

Keith went home late that night. We didn't say much to each other. He made some dinner with the food I had. Which ended up being homemade chicken noodle soup with ramen noodles and leftover KFC from a couple nights before. It actually tasted pretty good for being what Keith called 'Hobo Chicken Noodle Soup'. 

After he left I went to bed. The kittens also came in.

It didn't hit me until the next morning. I was just getting out of the shower, ready to apply the face creams I used for my morning routine.

I told someone about Sophia. 

The words echoed in my head. Nobody knew about my sister. Even Shiro and Pidge didn't know. Just Hunk and that was because we practically grew up together. The rest of them thought that she was just one of my cousins. I didn't even know most of them until my freshman year when Shiro and Bianca dated.

Now Keith knew. I guess it was fair though. I knew he was trans, he knew about my sister.

Maybe one day I could tell him about mom and dad. 

I shook the thoughts from my head and continued getting ready. Shiro said baseball practice was Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That way I could make swim practice on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I wasn't captaining this year but the person who was, a friend of mine named Liam, told me I was second in command. Which meant that no doubt I would be captain next year.

Now what to wear today.

I rummaged through my closet before deciding on a pair of blue jeans, a cat shirt that said 'show me your Kitties', a galaxy print pullover, and a pair of gray and white Adidas.

I saw Toby and Sophia on my bed. I did a couple poses for them.

"What do you think guys? Good enough for today?" I asked. Sophia mewed approvingly, which made me laugh. I was surprised how warmed up they both were to humans. Most cats that were homeless don't like people much. Maybe they just realized how awesome I was. Or maybe it was because they were getting fed.

"Gatitos tontos," I muttered before leaving my room.

I didn't have my car today. It was still in the shop. My uncle, Jeremiah and his son, Leo both had an auto body shop they owned. Even though Leo was only 16. They said I could have my car back Wednesday. So I was walking to school the next few days. Which I did when it wasn't too cold anyway.

Unfortunately, it was raining today. Maybe if I run into him, Adrien would give me his umbrella. Then again, he is not only a fictional character, but he lives in Paris. God damn fictional characters. Why can't you be real people? I wish I could be a superhero in a sexy magic leather catsuit.

I had about ten minutes until I needed to leave. I pulled out my phone. I had one missed message.

Marshmellow- Is your car still broken?

Me- yeah till Wednesday. why?

Marshmellow- I'm coming to pick you up. It's too rainy to walk.

Me- you're a lifesaver hunk!!!!

Marshmellow- Just make sure you're ready when I get there. I don't want to be late.

Me- hunk, your so great bro. I would go gay for you.

Marshmellow-...Aren't you already gay..? Plus the last friend that became your boyfriend didn't go so well....

Me- DON'T YOU DARE MENTION THAT SCUM IN MY PRESENCE!

Marshmellow- I didn't say his name. I was just pointing out what happened last time.

Me- Yeah Yeah. I know. But you get what I meant. I'm not actually going to go gay for you bro. You have your probably catfishing internet chick.

Marshmellow- Shay is not catfishing me. We video chat all the time. I just wish she didn't live halfway across the US.

Me- Yeah I know.

I saw him pull up in front of my building. I grabbed my stuff and went outside to meet him.

"Hey Bro. Thanks for picking me up." I said. Hunk smiled.

"No problem bro." He said. And we drove to school.

<><><><>

"I'm telling you I saw slender man!" I said. Allura, Hunk, Matt, and Pidge all sat at our usual table in the library as I told my story.

"Suuuure Lance. Just like how you saw Bigfoot last year." Pidge said.

"I didn't say I saw him. Just that I saw something that looked like a giant ape-man." I explained for the hundredth time.

"But seriously, on my way to mi Abeula's house on Sunday. I saw him in the forest." I said.

"Whatever Lonce I'm sure it was just your head playing tricks on you," Allura said.

"You're doing it again," I complained.

"Doing what?" She asked.

"Pronouncing my name wrong. It's Lance. Laaaaaaaance." I said, extending the A.

"That's what I'm saying." She complained, "Lonce."

"You're pronouncing it with an O," I said.

"No, I am not. I'm pronouncing it with an A." She said.

"You're pronouncing it like Lonce. It's not Lonce. It's Lance." I said.

"Now you're saying it like Lounce." She said.

"It's Lance," I said.

"Lonce."

"Lance."

"Lonce."

"Lance."

"Lonce."

"Lance."

"It sounds the same to me," Allura said.

"Okay how about this. What do you call those spears that knights used in the Medieval times?" I asked.

"Oh! You mean a Lance." She said.

"Exactly. Now saw my name." I said.

"Lonce."

"Uggg! I give up on this woman!" I said laying my head on the desk.

"I thought libraries were supposed to be quiet." I heard a voice say from across the table. I looked up and saw Shiro and Keith sit at our table.

Shiro was wearing a sweater that said 'I saved the universe and I'll I got was this stupid sweater' and pants. He pulled off the dad look rather well.

Keith was wearing a sleeveless red hoodie with a black design in the center and black ripped skinny jeans. His hair looked like he tried to brush it but ended up giving up. Somehow he looked fucking hot. Like the outfit had way to much black and don't even get me started on sleeveless hoodies but he looked amazing. The bruises on his arms were pretty much faded.

Al knew to stay away from us now. If he laid a single hand on Keith I would personally kick his ass and ruin his reputation. I was tempted to do both when I saw him enter the library.

Keith saw him too. We locked eyes for a moment before I gave him a reassuring smile. Al didn't walk over. In fact, as soon as he saw our table he left the library.

I went back to explaining my slenderman encounter.

"You believe me right Keith?" I asked.

"Pfft! Like Keith is going to be on your side. You two hate each other." Pidge said.

"Actually I believe him," Keith said. Pidge, Allura, Shiro, and Matt looked at him.

"It's not because I want to agree with Lance or anything. I just believe in Slenderman." He said.

"See! I'm not the only insane person here!" I said. Keith rolled his eyes.

"Next thing you know you two will be hunting him together." Hunk said.

"O, MY GOD! THAT'S A GREAT IDEA! WE SHOULD ALL GO ON A SLENDY HUNT!" I said loudly. Earning looks from the librarian and several other students trying to work.

"No." Shiro said flatly, "Nobody is going on a hunt for a fiction murderous faceless guy."

"Awww but daaad! It could be a good bonding experience for the group. We could invite Coran. Maybe split into groups. Like Pidge and Hunk, Coran and Allura, You and Matt, and Me and Keith." I said. I saw Shiro's eyes light up slightly at You and Matt. 

"Actually it would be Keith and I. Not me and Keith," Keith commented.

"Quiet mullet," I said. He glared at me but said nothing.

"Hmm. Well, it depends...how long would we be in these groups?" Shiro asked.

"Probably an hour or two. It's a big forest." I said.

"No. We are not splitting into groups that small. If we go, it's going to be Shiro, Hunk, Matt, and Coran. And Keith, Allura, Lance, and I." Pidge said.

"I don't know if it's a good idea to be running around the forest at night looking for a murderer." Matt pointed out. He was a big creepypasta fan but Slenderman was always off limits for some reason. And he was the guy who wanted to purchase that copy of Pokemon Black. The haunted copy before the actual Pokemon Black. The copy that literally turns you into a freaking MURDERER.

"Yeah, whatever. One of these days we'll do it. And when we find him-"

"-We'll all get murdered painfully," Pidge said dreamily. I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever I could totally catch him," I said.

"Good luck with that bro." Hunk said.

"What? You wouldn't help me?" I asked.

"It's just...It would be dark, and scary, and we could get murdered. And I can't bring food because animals could track us!" Hunk said, rambling about how he couldn't go anywhere without a snack.

"So...why were you hanging with Lance all day Sunday Keith?" Pidge asked. His face went slightly red. I'm sure mine did too.

"He got kittens...he wanted me to watch them while he went to deal with family business," Keith said.

"Yeah. I would have asked you or Hunk, but you don't like cats..." I explained.

"Those furry ass motherfuckers are always messing with the cords to my stuff!" Pidge complained.

"And Hunk was working," I said.

"Cakes not gonna bake themselves." He said.

"And Shiro and Matt wouldn't answer their phones," I said, smirking. The two boys both blushed.

"I was cleaning the house with loud music..." Shiro said.

"And I was at the movies," Matt said. Both avoiding eye contact. Keith and I tried not to laugh, while the others brushed it off.

"And Allura doesn't like my house," I said.

"It's too messy. You never clean!" She complained.

I'm a growing teen living alone. What do you expect!?" I said. She rolled her eyes.

"The least you could do is put the toilet seat down when a lady comes over." She muttered.

"Hey! It's not like I knew you were coming over!" I said, defending myself.

"I called you twice! And texted you multiple times. You even replied!" She said.

"Geez 'Lura stop living in the past," I said. She rolled her eyes and stopped talking.

We all talked about random things until I noticed something wrong.

"*GASP* SHIRO! THAT ISN'T EYELINER FROM ULTA! YOU TRAITOR!" I yelled. Earning another dirty look from the librarian.

"What? No this is the stuff that Keith got me." He said.

"No, it isn't!" I leaned across the table to get a closer look and gasped again.

"You...You actually bought makeup from JCPenny!? I can't believe you! You are no longer my friend Shiro! You have hurt me!" I said. He rolled his eyes. His JCPenny traitorous eyes.

He was about to say something but the bell rang.

<><><><>

Art was normal. Keith and I took notes as the teacher lectured about famous artists and what their art could have symbolized.

"Psst. Keith." I whispered.

"What?"

"I think I'm physic."

"Why the hell would you think your physic?" Keith asked.

"Well...remember on our first day I drew you like a girl," I said. He rolled his eyes.

"Shut up and take notes." He said.

"You just don't want to admit what I already know. I am physic." I said. He continued to ignore me.


	19. Chapter 19

Lance

The class was pretty normal after that. It wasn't until gym that anything out of the ordinary happened.

Hunk and I were both dressing down. Keith grabbed his clothes and went into the bathroom. I saw Al's eyes follow him but he didn't say or do anything.

"Hey, Keith left his locker open." Hunk said.

"Huh?"

"You said you wanted to find out what Keith was hiding. Well, he left his locker open." Hunk said, "I don't agree with snooping but you are my best friend."

"Maybe your right. Snooping is wrong." I said. He looked at me strangely.

"Wait really?" He said. I nodded.

"Yeah." I said, "I...Have to go to the bathroom. I'll meet you in the gym."

Hunk nodded and left the locker room. Almost everyone was already in the gym. Just Al, Keith, Me and Two other guys I didn't know.

I leaned against my locker, waiting for Al to leave. If I left before him or Keith he might try something.

"Aren't you already dressed McClain?" Al asked.

"Could say the same for you Al," I said.

"I'm just waiting for the bathroom to open up," Al said. The two other guys left the locker room.

"Listen Al. You know what will happen if you mess with Keith." I said, quiet enough so Keith couldn't hear from the bathroom stalls.

"Yeah McLame? You think I'm actually scared of your threats. Your so scrawny I could snap you like a twig." He said.

"I beat your ass once. I'll do it again." I said.

"You had a baseball bat," Al said.

"I only used it because you were trying to beat Keith with it. I can kick your ass with or without a bat." I said.

"You wanna bet?" Al asked.

"You're just trying to get me to fight you so I get in trouble," I said.

"Yeah, you caught me." Al said, "Why do you even care about Keithy anyways?"

"He's my friend. If you pick on any of my friends I will not hesitate to beat you." I said.

"Oooh! I'm soooo scared." Al said.

"How about this. I'll tell the whole school about you and your stepsister." I said quietly. His eyes went wide.

"You wouldn't...." He said.

"Oh, I would. And I even have pictures to prove it." I said quietly, "You lay one hand on Keith and everyone will know about your secret."

He glared at me. Then left the locker room.

"Hurry up Keith, we're going to be late," I said. The stall door opened and he walked out. He quickly put his stuff in his locker and followed me out.

We all had a free day in gym because we had a substitute teacher.

Hunk convinced the sub to let him go work on homework in the library which left Keith and I to find something to do.

"What do you wanna do?" I asked him.

"I don't know. I'm not very good at sports. You don't have a volleyball net up and all the basketball hoops are taken." He said. I thought for a moment.

Then it hit me. A ball hit me actually. A basketball. Right in the back of the head. I turned and saw Lenny.

"Sorry!" He called.

"It's all good," I said passing him the ball.

Then it hit me. And by it hit me I meant an idea, not another ball.

"Here follow me," I said. I grabbed his hand and led him to the gym closet. Grabbing two bats, a ball, and a baseball glove.

"What are we-"

"Just follow me," I said. We walked out to the baseball field which wasn't far from the gym.

"Lance. What are we doing out here? What if we get in trouble?" Keith asked.

"We won't I promise. I thought it would be cool if I taught you how to play baseball." I said smiling. He frowned.

"I already know how to play." He said.

"Ok, well get on the home plate. I'll pitch and you show me what you've got." I said. He slowly nodded, grabbed one of the bats, and walked over to the plate.

"Ready?" I asked. He nodded. But his stance and the way he held the bat told me otherwise.

"Ok time out a second," I said. I walked over to him.

"First of all, your stance is all wrong," I said. I stood behind him to help him adjust it a bit.

"To start, your legs are too close together. And bend your knees a bit." I said. He paused for a minute before complying.

"Put your ass into it Kogane!" I said. Then I realized with me right behind him that might be a bit strange. I backed up a bit.

"Haha, sorry. Didn't mean to be that close." I said, my face probably as red as Keith's motorcycle. Keith looked like he was trying not to smile.

He adjusted his stance a little more.

"Now for your hands. You want your dominant hand on top." I said. Keith started laughing.

"What's so funny?" I asked curiously. He laughed harder than I had heard him. Then again, Keith laughing, in general, was a rarity.

"I'm sorry." He said, stopping for a second. Looking at me, then started laughing again.

"What?" I asked, suddenly self-conscious. Was there something on my face? I suddenly had the urge to run to my back to my bag and find my compact mirror.

"Do I have something on my face!?" I asked, slightly panicked.

"No no." He said quickly. Trying to contain his laughter.

"I'm sorry." He took a deep breath.

"It's just....all of your instructions....are you trying to make them sound sexual?" He asked, trying not to laugh.

"I'll have you know those are professional instructions. I could get a scholarship with those instructions."I complained.

"Yeah. A scholarship with 'Put your ass into it Kogane!'." Keith said, doing an awful imitation of me.

"Those are golden words. The scholars are lining up to pay for that shit." I said. He laughed lightly. His laugh wasn't anything special. Just a normal laugh. But because it was him laughing it made it so much better.

"You have a nice laugh," I said. His laughing stopped.

"Oh...um...thanks I guess." He said shyly.

"And a nice smile. You should smile a lot more. Maybe people wouldn't think your unapproachable." I said. His face turned pink.

"I...Thank you...I-I...yeah." He stuttered. He awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. Then pointed to me, then the baseball bat.

"B-Ball...?" He said still stuttering.

I laughed and nodded.

"As I said, since your right-handed the right is on top. And when you swing, move your body, not just your arms. Don't hold the bat too loose, or you might throw it. I did that my first day. Shiro still flinches when I bat during practice. But remember as soon as you hit that ball you drop the bat and run to first." I explained. He nodded.

I grabbed the other bat and demonstrated how to swing, slowed down a bit so he could see.

"Copy my movements. And drive the bat into the ball." I said. He nodded. I walked back over to the pitcher's plate.

"Ok. These balls are going to fly at your face. Try and hit them. If you can't then don't be afraid to catch my balls." I said. Keith rolled his eyes.

"Now your just doing it on purpose." He said.

"Ok. Jokes aside. Try to hit this." I said. I waited for a second for Keith to get ready. Then I pitched.

Aaaaaand he swung too early.

The ball flew past him and hit the wall behind him. He grabbed it and tossed it to me.

"Okay. A little early. Try again." I said. He nodded.

I pitched again. This time it was too late.

"Ok, I said to wait but I didn't mean until I was passed you." I joked. He tossed me the ball.

"Just throw the damn ball." He said. I smiled and threw again.

And he missed again.

Needless to say, this went on for a while, Me throwing the ball and Keith missing.

"Maybe we should get you a new bat..." I said.

"No, we're staying here until I get this," Keith said angrily.

"Ok, calm down Red. We can keep going." I said. I pitched the ball again. He missed. He threw the bat at the wall.

"Rrrg! Why can't I get this!?" He exclaimed.

"Keith. Calm down a bit buddy. No need to freak out. Baseball just isn't your sport." I said. I walked over to him.

"You can't be good at everything," I said. He rolled his eyes.

"How can I not do this. I mean, you can do it. How hard can it be!?" He complained.

"Ouch," I said. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen Keith. You're amazing at drawing, your fashion sense is pretty good even if it's emo, your great at basketball, and even keeping secrets. I know all these things and I've only known you for a week." I said.

"Your beautiful and smart. Your music taste....well it could use some work but it's ok. You managed to hide something so big from everyone. What I'm trying to say is, you don't have to be good at everything. You're already perfect to me." I said. I leaned in and pressed my lips against his.


	20. Chapter 20

Keith

I can't say that I wasn't attracted to Lance. Heck, my first day I was practically drooling when I saw him. His personality was a little different, but he cared about his friends more than anything. He was a bit self-centered sometimes. And there were times where he was just a complete asshole. But that was Lance.

So as you can imagine I was very conflicted when he kissed me. He was my rival right? We weren't supposed to like each other. Then again, he knew more about my fucked up past than anyone. And he still accepted me. What would he think when he found out about how my parents died? How it was my fault.

With all of this going through my head I couldn't focus on any one thing going on. I didn't notice when Lance pulled away. I didn't notice Hunk walk over. I didn't notice class had ended.

I didn't even notice us walking back to the locker room. Or me changing back into my normal clothes. Or even going to lunch. In fact, I didn't even register anything that was happening around me until someone slapped me.

"Ow! Hey. What was that for!?" I complained. Pidge, Matt, Shiro, Allura, Hunk, and Lance all stared at me.

"You've been dead since the end of gym class!" Hunk complained.

"Huh?"

"You literally haven't done anything or said anything since I came out to get you and Lance from the baseball field at the end of class. You were just standing there. Not even doing or saying anything. We practically had to drag you back to the locker room. Then Lance had to open your locker for you and help you get in the stall. You changed by yourself them we had to drag you to lunch." Hunk explained.

"Oh...I guess I spaced out. Sorry guys. Wait. How did you know my locker combo?" I asked Lance. He laughed nervously.

"Haha....lucky guess...?" He said.

"He snapped a picture of your combo before he gave you the lock." Hunk said. I shot Lance a look, then turned back to the group.

"What happened that made you space out?" Shiro asked.

"Just..." I glanced at Lance, if he was feeling emotions at the moment he wasn't showing it. We locked eyes for a second. But only a second.

"Thinking about baseball," I said slowly.

"Yeah." Lance added, "I was showing him how to play."

"Really? Is he any good? We need a new person on the team since we booted Al." Shiro asked. Lance laughed.

"No. We were out there during class and he didn't hit a single one I threw." Lance said.

"That's because you yelled 'Put your ass into it Kogane!' Over and over again after I couldn't hit any." I said, doing my best impression of Lance.

"Hey! I'll have you know that is top advice from a professional. Maybe if you took my advice you would have hit one." Lance said.

"We've already been through this Lance. I'm not having this argument again." I said.

"Whatever you're just jealous that you're not good at baseball," Lance said. I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah. I'm totally jealous. I just really wish I could be you, Lance." I said sarcastically.

"I'm sorry you can't be this fabulous." Lance fake apologized.

"Whatever," I mumbled before going back to my lunch. Which was another thing I didn't realize I got.

"Geez, you guys argue like an old married couple," Pidge complained.

"Shut up Pidge!" Lance said, glaring daggers at the shorter girl. She simply flipped the bird and went back to her computer.

"Oh shit! I was supposed to grab my binder from my locker. My next class is too far from my locker to get it and get back to class on time." I said.

"I can go with you if you want I mean, We could go with you," Lance suggested. I shook my head.

"I'll only be gone a couple minutes," I said. He nodded and went back to his phone. I got up quickly and went to my locker.

As soon as I got to my locker the bell rang.

"Shit," I muttered. I grabbed my stuff quickly and ran to my class.

I turned a corner and BAM! I ran right into someone, knocking us both over in the process. My papers scattered across the hall.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you," I muttered. Before grabbing my stuff.

"It is quite alright." The guy said. I looked up and saw the guy. He had hair so bright it was practically white. Also, his hair was the most magnificent hair I had ever seen. His eyes were a mix of blue and purple and he had an accent that reminded me of Allura's. I had never seen him around here before.

He helped me pick up my things.

"Thanks," I said.

"What's your name?" He asked.

"Keith," I said. He held out a hand.

"Lotor." He responded. We shook hands.

"Well Keith, maybe I'll see you around sometime," Lotor said. I nodded.

"Yeah maybe," I said quietly. He smiled and turned back and started walking to his class. I stood there stunned for a minute. The bell rang. And I was late.

<><><><>

Math got out quicker than I thought. I was about 2 minutes late but Mrs. Levesque wasn't too upset. She gave me another warning and told me to get my notebook out. Class went by quickly.

I made my way to Physics. Matt used to be in class with me but he transferred out because he had already taken physics. So I had this class alone. Just like math. I sat in the back and went on my phone.

Sexy Boi- hey. you get to class ok?

Me- No. I died. This is a ghost.

Sexy Boi- can you go one second without being mean!?!?!?

I typed,  
Me- I was pretty nice on the baseball field

But before I could send it I heard someone from behind me.

"Hello. I didn't know you took advanced classes."

I looked up and Lotor standing next to me.

"Y-Yeah." I stuttered.

"Is this seat taken?" He asked. I shook my head. He smiled and sat next to me.

"So Keith, you like physics? Or are you just taking it to get a good record for college?" He asked.

"Well, a bit of both. I took chemistry last year. I always took more advanced classes. When I was younger my mom always told me to be the best person I could. And to push my limits to become better." I said.

"When you were younger? Does she not still tell you?" He asked confused. I frowned.

"She died when I was eleven," I said quietly.

"I'm really sorry Keith. I shouldn't have asked." Lotor said quickly.

"No...its fine. You didn't know." I said. He placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I know but I still should not have been so oblivious to it." He said.

"It's really fine. Don't worry about it." I said. The teacher started rambling on about how physics apply to everything. Pausing every few minutes to check his book to see if he was teaching right. I had a feeling he had no idea what he was supposed to do.

I pulled out my a piece of paper and starting drawing random shit based on the few words I heard the teacher said. It was a game I had played with an old friend of mine. One of my only friends before I moved here. Of course, he didn't like me as much once he found out.

When I finished I didn't even know what it was. Lotor watched me instead of the teacher.

"Wow. That's interesting. You have an amazing imagination." He said.

"Thank you. I was drawing what I heard the teacher say." I said. He smiled.

"How long have you been drawing?" Lotor asked.

"Well, ever since I lost my mom. She was a freelance artist. And I don't know, I just feel closer to her when I draw or paint or whatever you know?" I said. He nodded.

"It's stupid I know. But it's all I can do to really remember her. Sometimes I try to recreate art she did. But I can never remember it right and it always turns out wrong." I said.

"It is not stupid at all. You are simply honoring your mother." Lotor said. I nodded.

"She had one of her painting put in a museum once. Maybe I can show you one day." I said. He smiled.

"That would be wonderful. Name the time and I will be there." He said. I nodded.

The bell rang. I began packing up my bag. I almost left but Lotor stopped me.

"Hold on. Give me your phone." He said. I handed him my phone. He quickly typed something in, took a picture of himself and handed me back my phone.

"See you around Keith." He said before leaving. I grabbed my phone and noticed he added me on Snapchat and put his name in my contacts, the picture his contact photo and not a selfie for my story.

I smiled and walked to Advanced Drawing. Allura had drawing with me. Unfortunately so did Al. But Allura said if he came over she would kick his ass. Allura was scarily strong. I would be scared to fight her.

"Hello, Keith. I hope you got to class on time after lunch." She said as I sat next to her.

"Not quite. But Mrs. Levesque didn't mind. Just got another warning. I made a new friend I think. Pretty sure he's new. I've never seen him around here before." I said. Allura smiled.

"That's great Keith! Maybe they can sit with us tomorrow at lunch." She said. She pulled out the assignment from Friday and we got to work.


	21. Chapter 21

Lance

Keith didn't respond after what I said. So I assumed he was either pissed off at me, he was awkward about the kiss, or he got his phone taken away. All of those being pretty likely answers.

I wanted to talk to him about the kiss but that isn't something you casually joke about over text. I wanted to talk face to face.

It was last period. I had no idea what he had for his last class but maybe if I asked him to meet me after school today. Then again, I have baseball practice today after school. Maybe invite him to practice? Although we won't get time to talk until after. And I doubt he wants to watch practice. Maybe I can invite him to hang out after. Like, to get food or a coffee or something.

I quickly pulled out my phone and texted him.

Me-hey Keith. do u wanna get something to eat or something after practice is over?

It took him a minute to respond.

Emo Trash- Actually Lance I have plans after school. Maybe another time.

Did this mean he was freaked out by the kiss!? Did I scare him off!? Did I just ruin our friendship!?

Ok. Maybe he did actually have plans. Maybe he wasn't freaked out. Maybe I'm just overreacting.

I wrote out a text:

Me- Is this about the kiss?

But I didn't send it. It would be better to just ask him in person.

Once the bell rang I made my way to his locker. He was just putting his stuff in as I got there.

"Hey," I said. He jumped. Then turned around.

"Jesus Lance! Don't sneak up on me like that. You scared the shit out of me." He said quickly.

"Sorry. I just wanted to talk." I said, "About what happened at the gym today."

Keith's face went slightly red.

"I...um...I'm really sorry if I freaked you out. I didn't mean to. We can just pretend that it never happened. I just...I was worried you were making up plans so you didn't have to see me. Now I realize it's kind of a dick move to corner you at your locker. Yeah real smart of me. Oh god, now I'm rambling...Um but yeah I'm really really sorry Keith. It won't happen again. And um...yeah." I said quickly.

Keith smiled.

"It's okay Lance. And no, I didn't makeup plans. There was a new kid today I met on my way to my class and he wanted to hang out since he doesn't have many friends yet." Keith explained. I sighed with relief.

"That makes me feel better. I almost thought I had lost you." I laughed, "Why don't you bring this new kid to lunch tomorrow. That way we can all meet him."

"Yeah. That would be great. I'm sure you'd like him." Keith said. He checked his phone.

"Oh shit. I have to go now. I'm meeting him for coffee. Bye Lance!" He said quickly before shutting his locker and running down the hall.

I smiled as he turned the corner.

"Bye Keith."

<><><><>

Keith

Lotor and I both had vehicles we had to take home so we decided to meet at the coffee place instead of going together.

When I walked in the coffee shop I saw him ordering. I waited in line behind him. Once he got his drink I ordered mine. Which was just a caramel mocha.

"Oh Keith, I didn't even realize you were already here," Lotor said after I ordered. I smiled.

"I guess I'm pretty sneaky then," I said.

"That you are. Would you like to find a table?" He asked as the barista handed me my drink.

"Sure. Lead the way." I said. Lotor led me to a small table in the corner of the shop.

"So, how long have you been going to Voltron High?" Lotor asked as we sat.

"Well, I was just adopted at the beginning of September. And started school the next day, so just a week. Where did you go before you moved here?" I said.

"I just moved back from New York actually," Lotor said.

"So you used to go here then?" I asked. He nodded.

"I...I had a bit of a fight with my ex-boyfriend and my father decided we needed a break from here so we moved to New York for a few months." He explained.

"So your gay then?" I asked without meaning to. I covered my mouth. He laughed.

"Yes, I am. Well, actually I'm Bi. And I'm pretty sure you are gay as well." He said. My eyes widened.

"Yeah. How did you know that? Who told you?" I asked quickly. He laughed again.

"Lucky guess. You just have a...quality about you. I didn't really see it at school but I can tell now." He said. My face probably went red.

"Is it obvious?" I asked. He shook his head.

"You hide it well. However, I am pretty observant. But to someone who isn't good at reading people wouldn't notice." Lotor said. I nodded.

"So...A fight with your ex-boyfriend made you move to New York?" I asked.

"Yeah. He got jealous because I was spending a lot of time with one of his friends. I mean, we were together for three years and didn't trust me. He was super paranoid about it thinking I was cheating on him with her. Then one night he and I went to a party and might have drunk a bit. I blacked out and I guess I accidentally slept with her. He got overly dramatic about it saying that I knew exactly what I was doing. And that I was trying to cheat on him when in all truth I had no idea what had happened. He got super upset and threw a lamp at me. Now that I'm back I was going to try and talk to him but when I saw the girl that I slept with she gave me a dirty look. So I'm guessing he still hates me. I was going to try and sit with him at lunch tomorrow. Maybe invite him to go out or something." Lotor said. I nodded.

"He definitely overreacted. I understand why he would be mad, I can't stand it when someone cheats on me, but you were drunk. How would you know?" I said. He nodded, putting one of his hands on mine.

"Thank you for understanding." He said.

"If it doesn't work out at lunch just sit with my friends and I. They're all really nice. Especially my brother." I said. He smiled.

"You are truly too kind Keith." He said. I smiled.

"Thanks but it's nothing. You seem like a good person who just happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time. Maybe don't drink at any parties for a while." I said. He nodded.

"Yeah. I would just call him but I feel that would be awkward to explain over the phone. And he blocked me." He said.

"I haven't ever had a long-term relationship before but if he didn't trust you even after three years maybe you should just forget about him," I said.

"Yeah. I'd like to still be friends though. We were really close before we got together. And his friends were nice too." Lotor said. He finished his coffee. I nodded.

"This was really fun Keith but I have to go. Let's do this again sometime." Lotor said. He got up and left. I finished my coffee before leaving as well.

<><><><>

Shiro wasn't home when I pulled up. Neither were our parents. I knew dad usually stayed late at work. Mom's schedule was weird because she worked at a grocery store. This week I would probably be the first one home whenever Shiro had practice. Which were Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.

I walked inside and did a couple chores around the house. By the time I finished Shiro pulled up into the driveway. I was just putting dishes away.

The door opened and he walked in.

"What time does Keith get home?"

"I'm not sure. I didn't see his bike out front. He said he was going out for coffee with a friend. If it's Lance I'm guessing it will be another hour." Shiro said. O my god. He brought Matt home with him.

"What if he comes home early?" Matt asked.

"I'll just tell him I'm doing homework," Shiro said. Matt laughed.

"Homework, is that my new nickname?" Matt asked. They stopped at the bottom of the stairs. They couldn't see me but I saw them. They kissed.

"Come on. I wanna do this before he gets home." Shiro said. Huh, never pictured Shiro being the type to have sex before he got out of High school.

I decided now would be the best time to announce my presence. Mainly because I didn't want them to do it while I was here.

"Make sure you two use protection!" I said loudly. Shiro and Matt jumped and turned around. I crossed my arms and leaned against the wall.

"Oh, H-Hey Keith. Um...I was just um...Matt came over to help me study." Shiro stuttered.

"Huh, didn't know you guys took sex ed together," I said.

"What? No. We...have a math test tomorrow." He said.

"Shiro. I know you guys are dating. You're really not good at hiding it." I said. He sighed.

"Ok, yeah were dating. I just-"

"No need to explain. I heard it all on Sunday." I said. His eyes went wide.

"Wait, what did you here?" He asked.

I explained to him what happened on Sunday.

"You didn't....tell anyone did you?" He asked. I had never seen him so nervous.

"No. I decided it would be pretty good blackmail." I lied. I mean, I'm sure Shiro wouldn't care that I told Lance but I decided not telling him might be easier.

If I told him that I only told Lance then he would say something along the lines of,   
'So you've been spending a lot of time with Lance.'  
And I didn't feel like trying to think of an excuse. Not that I would need an excuse or anything because nothing Lance and I have done has been more than friends...sort of.

"So...um...we're going to go upstairs and study now..." Matt said. I rolled my eyes.

"I'll just call Pidge or Allura or something. I need to go clothes shopping anyways." I said. Shiro smiled.

"Have fun brother. Do you need cash?" He asked quickly.

"Actually yes. That would be great." I said. He grabbed his wallet and handed me some cash.

"Please remember I gave you cash before you think about talking about this situation," Shiro said, fake smiling.

"I'll consider it," I said before heading out the door.


	22. Chapter 22

Messaging

 

Me:   
Hey is are you free right now?

Gremlin:  
Why?

Me:  
Because I need to go clothes shopping

Gremlin:  
I swear you go clothes shopping 3 times a week

Me:  
You've only known me for a week

Gremlin:  
Exactly! And you've gone like three times

Me:  
Well, this time I'm not shopping at hot topic. I do wear normal clothes sometimes

Gremlin:   
Well, clothes aren't my expertise. Ask Allura or Lance

Me:  
Ok

 

Me:   
Hey, what are you doing right now?

Allura:  
Just finished my homework why?

Me:  
I'm going shopping and I need someone who knows clothing

Allura:  
Oooh! That will be fun! Have you asked Lance yet? He has an amazing taste in fashion!

Me:   
I'm texting him now. I'll stop by your place in a second. Taking Shiro's truck

Allura:  
ok

 

Me:  
Hey Allura and I are going shopping you want to come?

Sexy Boi:   
sure let me get someone to cover my shift. can u pick me up outside the flower shop of 5th

Me:  
I thought you worked at Ulta

Sexy Boi:  
2 jobs what do you expect i live by myself

Me:  
I'll be there in 10 minutes

 

Me:  
Big man are you busy?

Hunk:  
Yeah actually. Working tonight at the bakery. Cookies aren't going to bake themselves

Me:  
Alright. Have fun.

Hunk:  
Baking is always fun unless you burn it. Then not so much.

 

Me:  
Hey mustache, you working on college stuff?

Coran:   
Not presently at the moment but I was about to start a paper for my astronomy class

Me:   
Ok, enjoy your paper

Coran:  
I Will!

 

Me:  
Hey, you're not doing anything right now, are you?

Lotor:  
My parents are making me help them move back into the house. I swear they are evil sometimes

Me:   
Lol, yeah. I was going to invite you to go shopping with me and two friends of mine

Lotor:   
Wish I could. Your friends sound nice

Me:   
Oh well. Enjoy unpacking

Lotor: -_-

I put my phone away and drove to Allura's house. Shiro really needs to stop leaving his keys in his truck. One of these days someone is going to steal his truck and unlike me, they won't bring it back.

Once I pulled up to Allura's house she ran out and got in the truck.

"I'm so so so excited! Who else is joining us?" She asked as she sat next to me.

"Just Lance. Hunk is working and my friend was busy unpacking." I said.

"So who is this friend of yours? Do you like him? How was your coffee date after school?" Allura asked all at once. I swear once you get her going she was a gossip queen.

"No we are not dating and I don't like him more than a friend. And it wasn't a date. He doesn't have many friends here so I just wanted him to know that, well, I'm a friend I guess." I said.

"Yeah, but since when has Keith Kogane-Shirogane ever wanted a friend?" Allura asked.

"Hey! You can't say anything like that you've only known me for like a week." I complained.

"It's only been a week? Funny it's felt like longer." She said.

"Yeah. Only a week. So no passing judgment on me just yet." I said.

<><><><>

We pulled up to the flower shop that Lance told me to meet him. As we pulled up I saw him walk out with a bag in his hand.

He walked over to the truck and got in the back seat.

"Hey." He said as he buckled his seat belt.

"What's in the bag Lonce?" Allura asked.

"Say my name right and I'll tell you, " He said. Allura groaned and rolled her eyes.

"Not this again." She grumbled.   
I shot her an 'I got this' look.

"What's in the bag, Lancey Lance?" I asked. Allura held back a giggle.

He said something along the lines of,   
"I....Um...Huh?"

Allura and I laughed.

"Seriously though. What do you have?" I asked once the laughter died down.

"Oh, well my boss asked me to start making flower crowns to sell and he let me keep a couple," Lance said. He carefully reached in and pulled out one and placed it on Allura's head. It had light blue, white, and purple flowers on it.

"One crown for you queen." He said. She laughed. Then he grabbed one and placed it on my head. I looked in the mirror and saw it was made of pink flowers that resembled lilies.

"One crown for you, my princess." He said. I shot him a glare.

Then he placed one carefully on his own head. His seemed to be identical to mine.

"I ran out of the other colored flowers." He explained.

"So you gave me a pink one?" I asked.

"Well Mr. Emo, flowers typically don't come in black or grey." He said.

"I would have thought red maybe. It is my favorite color." I argued.

"The only red flowers we have right now are roses and roses are gross." He said.

"Why do you think roses are gross. They are pretty." Allura said.

"They're a cliche. Sooo overused. Every cheesy romantic garbage has roses. Nobody gets tulips or carnations, or-"

"We get it." I interrupted.

"But this isn't a romantic thing. It's just two friends." Allura said. Lance and I went silent. Not daring to mention what had happened at school today. I decided to break the silence.

"What's that clothing store you were telling me about Allura?" I asked. She lit up and started talking, Lance jumping in when he wanted to state his opinion.

<><><><>

Allura's house was closer to the stores we went to so I dropped her off first. She had about twenty bags of stuff she bought, yet she still managed to carry it all by herself in one trip. I swear she had the strength of a dinosaur or something.

Lance hopped into the front seat, putting his feet on the dash.

"It's like 7 pm I'm surprised Shiro's parents are letting you miss dinner," Lance said.

"They're working late," I said. He nodded.

"So that means your on your own for dinner then yeah?" Lance asked.

"Yeah, I guess," I said.

"We could go get something. I know this great place in town, I'll pay." He offered.

"Um...Lance. I thought you were working two jobs because you could barely afford to live by yourself." I said.

"Yeah, so?" He said.

"Well if you can barely afford to pay rent then why are you offering to pay for food?" I asked.

"I don't know. You haven't eaten, I was just trying to be nice." He said.

I turned onto his street.

"I'm going to have to pass. I'm not in a restaurant mood." I said, not looking at him.

"Oh. Ok....I'll see you tomorrow then." Lance said, sounding a little disappointed.

He got out of the car, grabbing his stuff and walked up to his apartment.


	23. Chapter 23

Lance

As soon as I got to my apartment I threw myself on the couch. Luckily the kittens were in my room and not on the couch. As soon as they heard me walk in they ran out of the room to greet me.

For being former barn cats they really liked me. Or just people in general. Hunk came over to feed them while I was at practice and he was still here when I got home before work.

Toby jumped on my stomach and rolled over, trying to get me to rub his tummy. And Sophia started chewing on my hair.

"Hey! Don't eat that. I use a lot fo expensive products to make that soft." I said, picking her up and putting her next to Toby.

I spent the next hour petting them.

"What am I going to do guys? I really like Keith and now I think I ruined everything." I said aloud. I got a couple what I was assuming was either encouraging mews or hungry mews.

I've never had a crush on anyone like this before. Well, that's a lie but it's never been this difficult. Usually, a couple picks up lines, get some dinner, maybe kiss if I have to and boom. I got a girlfriend...or a boyfriend. But no, the one guy I really really like has to be immune to all that. I even laid all my cards on the table by kissing him. I thought I had it. I mean, it really seemed like he liked me back. I mean he asked me to sleep in the same bed as him for god's sake! And he cuddled me! Like how else am I supposed to take those signs!?

Toby bit my hand, probably because I wasn't petting him anymore. Or maybe because I was complaining too much.

"I think I'll just sleep on it. Maybe call Bianca tomorrow. She always knows what to do with guys." I told the kittens. I got up and went to my room and went to bed.

<><><><>

I woke up the next morning an hour earlier than usual. Which is saying something because I usually get up early to do my face routine. I grabbed my phone and called someone.

"Hey, Primo! What's up?"

"B, I need your help. Get over here in ten minutes."

"I got Benji and Eli. They don't start daycare for a couple hours."

"Bring them too. I got kittens."

"Ok. I'll be there."

I hung up and went to get breakfast.

<><><><>

The door opened and Bianca walked in. The two boys went to play with the kittens.

"What is it, Primo?" She asked.

"I need you to make me beautiful. I want to make Keith jealous." I said.

"It will be difficult. But I can do it." She said.

<><><><>  
"Ok. I think I've done it." Bianca said.

I walked to the full body mirror I had on my closet.

She had dressed me in a large blue sweatshirt that said 'Astro' on it with a couple stars. A pair of skinny jeans, and a light blue baseball hat which she put on backward. She had also done subtle makeup. It was so good that the girls down at Ulta would be impressed.

"Ok. Now I have a few tips for you before I leave." Bianca said.

"First, act casual, but not a complete goofball like usual. Second, when you have PE with him make sure to wait until you see him look at you before you take off your shirt. And once it off, drop your PE shirt and bend over in front of him. These skinny jeans should help you with that department. Next show off, but don't be all...well don't be you about it. Don't brag or anything. And last, have Hunk bring up your swim meet. When Keith asks you about it be all chill, and casually invite him to watch. I'll show up near the end to pick you up and I'll bring one of my friends. She's going to be all over you and make Keith jealous. Then we'll leave. I'm willing to bet he'll send a snippy text about your 'New Girlfriend' if he does just say that she was a blind date for that night. Then if he doesn't fall for you just bring her back into the picture." She said. I nodded.

"Ok. Hunk is going to be here in five minutes." I said.

"Ok. I'm going to see if I can get Tia Eliza and Monica can babysit the boys after daycare." Bianca said. She led me out of the room, handing me my bag.

"Alright. Eli, Benji, what do you think?" I asked.

"You look great Tio!" Eli said.

"You said Ass!" Benji said. Man, he really likes saying that.

Bianca scolded him.

"Benji, sobrino, si vuelves a decir eso, regalaré mis gatitos." I said.

"No! I promise I won't say it again Tio! I promise!" Benji said.

"Ok. But if you say it again I will." I said.

Bianca looked at me one last time.

"Relajarse primo. Lo tienes." She said. She led her two children to the door and they left.

<><><><>

"Hey, you look different. What's the occasion?" Hunk asked as I got in his car.

"Oh, no occasion. Although today is the first day of swim practice." I said.

"Oh, I saw Bianca on my way here, how is she?" Hunk asked as we pulled out of the apartment driveway.

"Huh, last I saw her was at the funeral. Did she have the kids? I think she's looking for a babysitter after school-I mean daycare." I said.

"Yeah, she did have the kids. I'd offer to take care of them myself but I work today." Hunk said.

"Yeah. I can't today either. With practice and work after practice. Flowers aren't going to arrange themselves. Or is it Ulta today. I can't remember. It's on my calendar at home." I said.

"Pretty sure it's Ulta today. Although sometimes the flower shop does make you work two days in a row." Hunk said. I nodded. And we continued our way to the school.

<><><><>

Once we got to the school we went to the library. We were a bit late, fashionably late, by my plan. So once we got in the library everyone else was already there.

"Hey, guys. Whatcha talking about?" I asked as I sat down at the table. Keith had headphones in so he wasn't paying attention.

He was wearing one of the outfits we had picked out yesterday. A black tank top, with a black and white hoodie, green baggy pants, and combat boots. It wasn't as emo as usual but it wasn't far from the emo theme he always wore.

"Hey Lance, Hunk," Shiro said. Allura, Matt, and Pidge also said hello.

"Hey, guys." Hunk said.

"Wow, you look nice. What's the occasion?" Allura asked.

"You know that's almost the exact words Hunk used." I said, "And there's no occasion. I'm just excited for the first day of swim practice that's all."

"You look amazing Lonce. Did you buy this last night?" Allura asked. I slammed my hand on the table effectively getting Keith's attention.

"That right there. You're saying it again." I said. I noticed out of the corner of my eye Keith taking out his headphones and watching us.

Allura groaned. "I'm not even doing anything wrong. We have this fight almost every day." She complained.

"There's an easy way to fix it. Just say my name correctly." I said.

"Whatever Laaaance." She said, saying my name awkwardly.

"There you go! Now don't stretch out the a." I said.

"Lauce." She said. I face slapped.

"It's a stupid name anyways." She grumbled.

I saw out of the corner of my eye that Keith was watching us still. Man, he just couldn't get enough of my new look, could he?

The bell rang and we went to the first period.

As a reward for surviving the first week, our art teacher gave us a do whatever you want day. In other words, she was still hungover from the parties she went to over the weekend and she didn't want to deal with a bunch of 17-year-old brats.

After she announced this I stood up.

"Where are you going?" Keith asked.

"I'm going to one of my friend's classes and hanging out with her," I said casually.

"Pidge?" He asked. I shook my head.

"Nope."

"So it's Allura." He said. I shook my head again.

"Big negatory. You haven't met her. I do have other friends. She's a softball player. Met her after my practice yesterday. I offered to teach her some moves." I said.

"Have fun." He grumbled before going back to his drawing.

"I will," I said, before walking out of the class. I walked to an empty classroom and shut the door, before dialing Bianca's number.

"Please tell me you got the softball girl to agree to meet me at swim practice," I said as soon as she answered.

"Don't worry primo. She agreed. You remember her name right?" Bianca asked.

"Yes....no...what is it again?" I asked. I heard Bianca sigh.

"Her name is Spencer, She's a softball player. She has long wavy black hair and greenish eyes. She is a senior." Bianca explained.

"Ok, got it. Spencer. So she's going to meet me at the swimming practice." I clarified.

"Yes. And I'll be there too. We'll meet you at the end. Just make sure you get Keith to go. But don't ask until after gym." Bianca said.

"Gotcha," I said.

"Good luck Primo. If this doesn't work, we'll have to bring in the big guns." Bianca said.

"Por favor, no llames a la prima Isabella la 'Big Guns'. " I said. Bianca laughed and hung up.

<><><><>

The second period flew by. Soon it was English with Keith, Pidge, and Hunk.

Pidge was doing tonight's homework ahead of time. She had this crazy thing that if she turns in the homework the day it was assigned then she gets extra points. Which wasn't really true that I knew of but she had straight A's so I guess she was doing something right.

"How was the softball girl?" Pidge asked as she finished the assignment. Keith had just left the classroom to go to the bathroom.

"How did you know about her?" I asked, not recalling telling her about anything.

"Keith told me. Wouldn't shut up about it all second period." Pidge said, adding the last part with an annoyed tone.

"Oh? That's strange." I said. Of course on the inside, I was glad my plan was working.

Just then Keith walked in and sat down next to us.

"It was great. She really liked the way I taught baseball. Her name is Spencer. She's a senior." I said. Keith rolled his eyes and put his head on his desk.

"Wait are you talking about the softball captain and head of the dance team Spencer?" Pidge asked.

"Yeah. That's sound about right." I said.

"So what's the deal, are you going out with this girl or what?" Hunk asked.

"You really think that he could get a girl to date him in one day?" Keith asked.

"Crazier things have happened. Although she is way out of your league." Pidge commented. I gasped dramatically.

"I am offended. She is totally in my league." I said.

"Yeah sure," Pidge said.

"Ok. What is my league? Who's in my league?" I asked.

"Hm, let's see. First, we have to see what your social status is." She said.

"That's easy, I have 10 thousand followers on Instagram. Social life is good." I said.

"Yeah online. At school not so much. Your only redeeming qualities are the two sports you play. Your swimming and baseball, which don't help you much." Pidge said.

"They totally help me. Girls love sports guys. Plus, I'm like the best swimmer on the team. And Shiro always said I'm an amazing baseball player." I said.

"Ok. I think I've figured out what's in your league." Pidge said after a couple minutes of thinking.

"Yeah? What is it? And I swear if you say a hobo or something I'm going to steal all the ends to your chargers." I said. She glared at me.

"You wouldn't."

"Try me."

"Fine." Pidge said, "Your league in girls is like hm...do you remember that one waitress we had when we went that restaurant about a week before school started?"

"Yeah."

"That's your league. For girls anyways." Pidge said.

"Oh, That's not that bad," I said.

"And for guys. I guess your league is about a Keith." Pidge said. Keith looked up.

"What?" He said.

"Yeah. Keith is your league. Find guys like him and you might have a chance. Then maybe it won't be like your last boyfriend." Pidge said.

"Don't mention him in my presence! That guy is a jerk!" I said loud enough to get the attention of a few people around us.

"Who?" Keith asked.

"Lance's ex. He cheated on him, then got Allura drunk somehow and slept with her. He was a complete jerk. Luckily he's gone." Hunk said.

"Like...dead?" Keith asked.

"I wish. No, he moved." I said.

"I heard he might be moving back. I mean, his dad is the principal." Pidge said.

"What!? I thought him and his mom left. Why would he come back?" I asked.

"Remember his dad left too. At the end of the year. Remember. You wanted to do a big prank on him but he was gone." Hunk said.

"So now his dad's back. I haven't seen him around and I'm pretty sure I'd know if he was back." I said.

"Well, I'm just saying, if his dad is working here again I'm sure he would be back too," Pidge said.

Just then the bell rang. Great. It was PE. Time to execute phase 2. 

<><><><>

Once we got to the locker room I saw Keith grabbing his stuff from his locker. He turned to walk to the bathroom but I slammed my locker shut getting his attention. He turned and as soon as he did I took off my shirt. As soon as it was off I noticed he hadn't moved. 

Good. Now for the next part. 

I "accidentally" dropped my shirt and bent down to get it. When I came back up I looked and saw Keith quickly turn and walk to his stall. His face completely red.

Perfect. 

"Dude why did you shut your locker. You didn't grab your shorts yet." Hunk said.

"It was an accident. Don't worry I didn't put the lock on it." I said. I opened it and finished changing.

"Hey Hunk, I need you to bring up my swim practice today at lunch," I said.

"Why?" He asked.

"I want someone to watch but I don't want to ask everyone directly. Can you bring it up? Maybe people will volunteer. Plus I might need a ride home." I said.

"I would go but I have to work again tonight. Maybe Shiro. I know Allura is working and Pidge can't even drive. I'd try Matt, Keith, or Shiro." Hunk said.

"So can you?" I asked.

"Yeah. Ok, I'll do it." He said.

"You're the man Hunk!" I said, giving him a high five.

<><><><>

After class, Keith hurried to get out of the locker room. Guess he just couldn't handle how beautiful I was.

Hunk and I got changed into our regular clothes and walked to the lunch room. We met the others at our usual table, Hunk and I sitting across from Shiro, Matt, and Keith. Pidge was on the other side of Hunk and Allura was next to Matt.

"So, are you excited for your first swim practice this year Lance?" Hunk asked.

"Yeah, I'm super excited! Although I need a ride home anyone free to watch my practice?" I asked.

"Sorry bro, I have to work. Allura?" Hunk said.

"I have to work too. Maybe Matt can give you a ride?" She suggested.

"Sorry. I also have work. Drop Pidge off at the house, then it's straight to work." Matt said.

"Shiro, Keith?" I asked.

"Well, I have a meeting with the new coach to arrange some games when baseball season starts up. Keith could wait with you at the pool until I'm done." Shiro suggested. Keith looked at Shiro angrily for volunteering him.

"Sure. I don't have my bike today since Shiro was supposed to go home at the normal time today but I guess since he's staying after I can go to your practice thing." Keith said, slightly irritated.

"Aw, thanks, guys," I said, I tried to leave over the table and give them a hug but Pidge pushed me and I face planted into the table.

"Hey! What was that for!?" I demanded. Almost everyone at the table except Hunk and Shiro was laughing. Well, Hunk was trying not to laugh and Shiro was muttering something about being too old for this.

"Oh! Hang on! My friend was going to meet us here!" Keith said, getting excited.

"Oh look. Keith made a friend. Look how excited he is. It did it all by himself." Pidge said. Keith ignored her and stood up. He raised his arm and waved someone over.

When they walked into view I destroyed the milk carton I was drinking. It was him. He was back. I slammed my hands on the table and stood up, Allura standing up angrily as well.

Lotor. My cheating Ex. That was Keith's new friend.

"Lotor," I said rudely, glaring at him.

"Hello, Lance." He said calmly.

Keith looked back and forth between us. He started to put the pieces together.

"Wait...Lance is your-"

"Ex. Yes. He's the one who overreacted and I was forced to move." Lotor said. Keith was still confused. That's when Allura decided to take it upon herself to run at him with a punch.


	24. Chapter 24

Keith

Allura ran straight at Lotor, punching him right in the face. I mean, I've seen Allura get mad at Al but this was different. She was actually hitting someone.

"How dare you! You almost ruined my friendship with Lonce!" She yelled.

I was assuming she was the one Lotor accidentally slept with.

"Woah! Guys, why don't we just calm down and talk this out." I said. Shiro pulled Allura off of him.

"Calm down!? This guy cheated on me multiple times, and on top of that he got Allura drunk and slept with her!" Lance said.

"Yeah, but he was also drunk. Simple mistake." I said back. Lance looked at me.

"Are you seriously going to believe every word he tells you!? The whole reason we broke up was his lies!" Lance said.

"He's given me no reason not to trust him," I said.

"Well, he's lying to you. If you want to know the real story, ask Allura. Or me. Lotor is just going to lie to you. It's what he's best at." Lance said, glaring at him.

"Listen. I just came here to talk. I was hoping we could make up. I am really sorry for what happened." Lotor said.

"Can it Lotor! You had your chances. We trusted you. And you still lied to all of us. And you used Lance! And Allura!" Pidge said.

"Not to mention you stole Lance's car and blamed it on Nyma," Matt added.

"And ate the last croissant!" Hunk added. The others nodded in agreement. Apparently, this croissant was important.

I looked at Lotor. Maybe they were right, maybe he did lie to me.

"Keith, I swear I can explain," Lotor said.

"Ok sure. The only explanation was that you were a selfish asshole." Lance said.

"Fine. Then I'll leave." Lotor said. He glanced at me. I looked between Lotor and Lance.

"Your going to gave choose Keith. Him or me." Lotor said. Lance looked at me, he looked hurt, like he was afraid I would pick Lotor.

"I'm sorry Lotor, I've known them longer. Maybe we can talk later." I said. Lotor looked at me, then at Lance, then back at me.

"See you later Keith," Lotor said before walking away.

I sat back down, not looking at anyone.

"Keith." Someone said. I wasn't sure who. I ignored them.

"Keith."

I continued to ignore them. Trying not to look up.

"Keith."

"What!?" I demanded a little too harshly. Lance who sat in front of me looked taken aback.

"I didn't say anything..." He said. I looked around.

Oh great now I'm hearing voices again. Lovely. I thought. Lance pointed behind me. I looked behind me and saw a girl with brightly colored hair in a ponytail. I recognized her as one of Lotor's friends, or someone I had seen him talk to and hang out with.

She handed me a note before walking away.

Huh, that was weird. I thought. I put the note in my pocket. I looked up and saw everyone looking at me expectantly.

"Are you going to read it?" Pidge asked.

"Yeah maybe later," I said.

"I think I'd like to know what that jerk has to say to you now," Allura said.

"Yeah. Whatever it is he's probably up to no good." Lance said.

"Fine," I grumbled and pulled out the note.

Keith,   
I can explain I swear. Give me a second chance, I'll tell you everything in 6th period.   
-Lotor

"What does it say?" Matt asked.

"Just that he's sorry. He wanted to make up with you guys but he realized that's not going to happen." I said. I didn't know why I lied but everyone seemed to believe it for some reason.

<><><><>  
Lunch ended and the fifth period flew by quickly. Which meant in 6th I would have to see Lotor again. I wasn't sure exactly how I felt about him. On one hand, he was really nice to me and he was one of the first friends I made here without Shiro's help. On the other hand, he lied to me and apparently he's pretty well known for that. I mean, I understand that Lance would exaggerate but the others not so much.

I sat in my seat and waited for class to start and for Lotor to show up.

But he didn't show up. He didn't come to class. He just skipped. Was this his way of explaining what happened? Just not showing up. I guess he really was a liar.

Class passed quickly. Lotor still not showing up. I went to 7th period. I wasn't very good at this class, Spanish, but I needed two years of one language to get into a university.

<><><><>

Once the class passed. I made my way to the pool, then realized I had no idea where the pool was. I decided to text Lance.

Me: Umm...so where is the pool?

Sexy Boi: let me guess, your lost

Me: no....ok yeah I am.

Sexy Boi: I'd come to escort you but I'm changing right now. unless that's something you're interested in 

Me: Just tell me where the pool is.

Lance sent me the instructions on how to get to the pool from where I was and I eventually found the place. When I got there I found a small set of bleachers that I'm assuming is where the audience sat for actual swim meets. I sat down and waited. There were only two other people here, both on their phone. One of them looked familiar but it was hard to tell. Maybe she just had one of those faces. I guessed they were also dragged into giving their friend a ride too. Lance seemed to make a big deal about his first practice, but something told me that people don't usually go to watch the practices.

I decided to follow the other two peoples example and pull out my phone and scroll through social media.

<><><><>

The practice went by pretty quick, I didn't pay attention to it much unless I heard Lance talking or noticed him swimming or something. And it's not because I was treating him special or anything, it was simply because I didn't know or care about anyone else on the team.

"So, what did you think?" I heard Lance say as he walked up to me. I put my phone away and saw him standing in front of me, still in his swimsuit, which because this was a swim team...well it wasn't exactly swimming trunks. I did my best not to look any lower than his face.

"I-It was great." I stuttered. I cleared my throat before saying,

"Great job. Although it's not like it was a competition or something."

Lance laughed. Then he glanced behind me at the two girls who were also here.

"Prima? Cuanto tiempo llevas aquí?" He said. I turned and realized why the girl looked familiar. It was Lance's Cousin, Bianca. The other girl looked familiar too like I had seen her around school but I didn't know her well enough to remember her name. She had wavy black hair tied into a ponytail, green eyes, and an athletic build.

"Hey, Primo! I came to see your first practice. I do it every year Primo, don't tell me you forgot." Bianca said. She and the other girl walked down next to us.

"Hey, Keith. If I would have seen you we could have sat together. Maybe talk about how ridiculous Lance looks in a speedo." Bianca joked.

"Hey, I don't look bad in a speedo! Keith, are you going to just let her pick on me?" Lance asked.

"Um...No Lance, you don't look bad in a speedo at all," I said quickly, my face burning up.

"I think you look great in a speedo Lance." The other girl said.

"Thank you, Spencer," Lance said. I quickly looked up at him. Then at the girl. Then back at him. This was the girl that Lance was hanging out with!?

I had to admit, she was pretty. I'm gay, so me saying that doesn't really mean anything but she was undeniably attractive. I could see why Lance liked her.

"So this is Spencer huh?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"Yeah. Oh crap, I forgot to tell you, I didn't need you guys to drive me home. Spencer and I were going to walk to that really great restaurant after school. Kind of like a date thing." Lance said. I frowned.

"I thought you said you guys were just friends," I said.

"Well, we have a class together after Lunch and we thought it would be fun to hang out. We found out we have a lot in common." He said.

"Ok, I guess I was going to ask you if you could help me with something after your practice was over but I'll just find someone else to help me I guess," I said, trying not to sound angry. Because I wasn't angry. Or jealous! Totally not jealous!

"Oh...I mean, I could canc-"

"As I said, it's fine." I cut him off, "I'll find someone else."

My phone went off.

Shiro: Are you and Lance ready to go?

"I have to go. Shiro's texting me." I said, before turning and leaving quickly. I heard Lance say my name but I didn't stop.

I got into Shiro's truck and slumped into the front seat.

"Where's Lance?" Shiro asked.

"Just go. He's got another ride." I said, trying not to let my voice signal how upset I was. Shiro looked at me for a couple of seconds before deciding to drive home.

<><><><>

As soon as I got home I went upstairs to do my homework. I pulled out the assignment I needed Lance to help me with. I pulled out my phone.

I almost called him.

Then I decided to call someone else since Lance was on his date with her.

"Hey. Do you happen to know Spanish?"


	25. Chapter 25

"No."

"What? Really? I figured you would know Spanish."

"Keith, why don't you just ask Lance? He's literally cursed me out in Spanish when he passed me in the hall today." Lotor said.

"He's busy with his new girlfriend," I grumbled. Lotor laughed.

"Sounds like someone is jealous," Lotor said.

"I'm not jealous!" I said quickly.

"Don't worry Keith, your secret is safe with me." Lotor said, "I would offer to help you but Lance would probably freak out."

"You mean like, you pretend to go on a date with me to make him jealous or something," I asked.

"Well yeah, but that would make Lance blow up. If he thought we were dating he would probably kill me. He almost did when I slept with Allura." Lotor said.

"Do you think you could explain what exactly happened between you and Lance. The whole Allura thing. And why the heck they were freaking out about a croissant." I asked. Lotor laughed.

"That's actually a funny story. They just kind of took it the wrong way." Lotor said.

"Well, I'll start with Allura. While it was true I did really like Allura while Lance and I were dating I didn't ever try anything with her. One night we had a little party at her place. It was originally just Lance, Pidge, Matt, Shiro, Allura, Coran, Hunk, and I. Then some other kids found out. It eventually became a full party. Someone spiked the punch and Allura and I had way too much of it. This was near the end of Lance and I's relationship. I had seen him flirt with a lot of people at the party, including Shiro. He was also drunk, but he doesn't like to admit it. So I thought a good way to show him I was done with our relationship was to sleep with Allura. We both really liked her and I thought that maybe since we were really close she would choose me over him. But of course, Lance convinced her that I was the one to get her drunk. And because she had was too drunk to remember anything she took his side. I tried to stay friends with everyone but they didn't trust me. We were still sort of friends but not really. At the time I lived with Lance. We had been in a relationship for a while so it only made sense. Everyone was hanging out at Pidge's one night. When I showed up they got mad and kicked me out. I went back to the apartment. That's when I saw the croissant. It was just sitting in the fridge. Nobody told me it was special. Apparently, it was a croissant Hunk bought in France for Lance during his summer vacation. When he got home and found out I ate it he actually kicked me out." Lotor explained.

"I guess that croissant story wasn't as funny as I thought..." He said, laughing nervously.

"What about what Lance said about you cheating on him?" I asked.

"Oh that. He always was afraid I was going to cheat on him. He's surprisingly insecure, you'd think he wouldn't be, you know he brags about himself all the time. Well, I have this group of girls I hang out with. They were like my only friends before I met Lance. Anyways be always thought I was cheating on him with one of them. I told him to stop being paranoid but he still thought I was cheating. Jokes on him, none of them are even straight." Lotor said. We both laughed.

"Thanks for telling me all that," I said.

"Of course Keith. We are friends after all." Lotor said.

"Maybe I will take you up on that offer to make Lance jealous," I said.

"I don't know if that's really a good idea..." Lotor started to say.

"No, wait! I got it. I'm going to figure out where Lance is with that Spencer bitch and we can show up there." I said.

"How are you going to figure out where they are? Did he tell you?" Lotor asked.

"No. But I know someone who would know." I said, "I'm going to call you back."

"Ok. Good luck Keith." Lotor said before I hung up. I got up and went to Shiro's room. I knocked on his door.

"Come in." He said. I opened the door. He was at his desk doing homework.

"Hey. Do you still have Bianca McClain's phone number?" I asked. Shiro's face went red.

"Bianca? How do you know about her?" He asked.

"She told me. I need her number it's important." I said.

"Sure. But why don't you ask Lance?" Shiro asked. He wrote the number on a piece of paper and handed it to me.

"He's busy. It's easier if I ask you." I said, before taking the number and leaving.

"Thanks, Shiro," I call as I walked into my room.

I dialed the number and called. The second ring I realized it probably would have been easier to just text her but it was already too late.

"Hello?" She said.

"Bianca? It's Keith."

"Oh! Hello Keith!" She said loudly.

"Where is Lance and his girlfriend having their date?" I asked.

"Oh! You would like to know where Lance and his girlfriend are having their date!" She said loudly as if she were trying to tell someone who was hard of hearing or something.

"Yeah, I just said that," I said.

"Well, Lance and his date are at the coffee shop at the end of Lance's road!" She said. I heard what sounded like a cat on her side of the phone.

"Was that a cat?" I asked.

"A cat? Um, no...no cat here. That was...um that was Benji! He likes to play pretend haha. Benji go to your room." She said. She sounded suspicious but I ignored it.

"Ok...Thanks, Bianca." I said before hanging up. I texted Lotor to meet me outside the coffee shop before getting up. I was going to change but realized I had no time so I just kept what I had on.

I grabbed the keys to my motorcycle.

"I'm heading out!" I said as I walked downstairs.

"Oh, do you think you will be back for dinner?" Mae asked. I didn't realize she was home.

"Um...I'm not sure. I'll try to be." I said.

"Ok. Don't be out past eleven." She said before walking back to the kitchen. Man, she was the best foster mom ever.

I grinned before walking out of the house.

Lotor was already there when I got there.

"Nice bike." He commented.

"I'd take you for a ride but I only have one helmet," I said. Lotor nodded.

"Shall we?" He asked. This time I nodded. He grabbed my hand and we walked in. I quickly spotted Lance in the corner. His date was nowhere to be seen. He had his back to us.

I stopped, pulling Lotor to a stop.

"Wait. He's alone. Do you think she left him?" I asked, whispering.

"Maybe. You should walk over there by yourself. I'll watch from the other side of the shop." Lotor said. I nodded before walking up to the counter and ordering two drinks.

Lotor went to the other side of the coffee shop and watched as I carried the drinks to Lance's table. I set one in front of him before sitting across from him. I cup suddenly appearing in front of him must have startled him because he flinched. Which made me laugh.

"Hey, loser. You looked lonely. Did Miss Softball stand you up?" I asked.

"You know she came here with me. Can't exactly stand someone up if you go together." He said.

"You know what I mean," I said. He shook his head.

"Her boyfriend showed up. Turns out she didn't like me that much. She was just trying to make her ex-jealous so they get back together." He said. He frowned.

"You know, ever since I broke up with Lotor I've had the worst luck with dating. Like I try but it never works out. In the last two days, it's happened twice." He said. I realized he was also talking about what happened on the baseball field.

"It's ok Lance. Maybe you just need to directly ask them instead of stepping around it and waiting for them to ask you." I said, hoping he would get the hint.

"You're...You're not talking about Spencer are you?" He asked. I laughed and shook my head.

"No, you idiot," I said.

"You know, it's easy to tell when you laugh," Lance said.

"What's easy to tell?" I asked.

"That your...you know...a girl. You can kind of hear it in your laugh a bit." He said, "It's not to obvious but I've noticed the last....well I noticed today actually."

"How much have I laughed today?" I asked.

"Not much. But it's easy to tell for me anyways." He said. His phone, which was sitting on the table face up, lit up with a text.

Cuzy Cuz: did it work? Is he there?

I looked at the text. Then at Lance. As soon as he saw it he snatched his phone up. It was obviously Bianca.

"What does she mean 'did it work'?" I asked.

"Um..." He trailed off, his face extremely red.

"Lance," I said. 

"Um...so you know how I said that Spencer left me?" Lance asked.

"Yeah."

"Well. We sorta didn't really go on a date in the first place..." He said, not looking at me.

"What? What does that have to do with this?" I asked.

"Um...well...when you called Bianca she was at my house with me...and we were kind of waiting for you to text me or something." He said, still refusing to meet my eye.

"Wait, so this whole Spencer thing wasn't real?" I asked. He slowly nodded.

"Why? And why were you waiting for me to text you?" I asked.

"I was...kind of hoping it would make you a little bit jealous." He said. At that moment it all hit me. Why he had been acting strange all day, why he invited me to his practice, why he was all dressed up.

And that's when I started laughing. I laughed so hard I almost knocked over my coffee. I laughed so hard I couldn't breathe. It was just too ironic.

Lance looked at me strangely.

"You don't have to make fun of me." He grumbled.

"No....no it's...not that." I managed to get out. I stopped to breathe.

"It's just. I'm not laughing at you, Lance. It's just really ironic." I said.

"What's ironic?" He asked.

"I came here with Lotor to make you jealous," I said. I laughed again, this time not as hard.

"Wait...you wanted to make me jealous?" He asked.

"Yes! That's why Lotor is here." I said. He looked behind us and saw Lotor in the corner. Then he looked at me and laughed.

"Wait. So you're saying we were both going to fake dates to make each other jealous? That's kind of pathetic." Lance laughed.

"Pathetic yes. But you thought of it first." I said.

"Actually it was Bianca. But yeah." He said.

"So does this mean you like me?" He asked.

"Does this mean you like me?" I asked.

"I kissed you on a baseball field and kept telling you that you were perfect." He said.

"Yeah but you also told me to forget about it," I said back.

"Touche."

We laughed. I quickly sent Lotor a text saying he could leave. He sent me a 'Good luck' before walking out.

"So...to clarify because I'm confused as fuck." Lance said, "I like you. More than a friend. And I think you like me..?"

I leaned across the table and kissed him. It was just a peck but it made him go as red as a tomato.

"Ima take that as a yes." He mumbled.

"Yes," I said.

"So...you wanna ditch this place? Maybe watch a movie at my place?" He asked.

"First, it's a school night. Second, your cousin is still at your house." I said.

"Oh yeah." He said.

"But I'm guessing you walked here so I could give you a ride home," I said.

"But I live like a mile away." He said.

"We could take the long way," I said with a wink. He smiled and nodded.

We got up and left the shop.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's a bit of a time skip here so don't be confused. I just didn't want to be on the second week for 26 chapters.

Lance

It was a little over a month after Keith and I's coffee date thing. Or when we confessed to each other anyway. We had a couple dates since then. I took him to my favorite Mexican restaurant. We walked in the park. We went to eat a few times. We aren't officially boyfriends yet, and we haven't told anyone yet but I think we're getting there.

It was about four days before Keith's birthday. He has seemed upset the last few days or more upset than usual anyway. He hardly talks, he doesn't really listen to anyone, and he's really sluggish. It's like he hasn't slept in a couple days or something.

We were sitting in the first period. It was Friday so even though it was early in the morning people were ready for the weekend. Maybe it was because Halloween was twelve days away. The teacher was giving us the typical Halloween topics for this time of year. I thought they stopped doing stuff like that in elementary school but I guess not. Maybe this teacher was just old-fashioned.

"Hey, Keith," I whispered.

"Hm?"

"Are you ok? You've been acting weird lately."

"It's nothing. I'll tell you later." He said.

"Ok," I said. I made sure nobody was looking before planting a small kiss on his cheek.

"We could go out and get something to eat if you want. Maybe get dinner then we can watch movies at my place." I suggested.

"Its Friday, we have the big friend sleepover thing we do every week. This week it's at Shiro and I's place." He said.

"Ok. How about on Saturday we go to the Halloween stores and get a costume. We've only got like a week and a half until Halloween. Don't want to wait too long before all the good costumes are gone." I said. He frowned.

"You still dress up for Halloween?" He asked. I nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah! Allura and Coran always have this awesome party at there place. It's huge. Everyone is there. Sometimes kids from other towns go! One time someone from Canada flew in to go. Allura throws the best parties. She's got this huge house. It's the best. And everyone dresses up." I explained.

"I'm not into the whole dressing up thing. Or Halloween in general." He said.

"Yeah, but this is your first Allura party. You have to go. She hardly ever throws them. Only like twice a year. And the end of the year one is too far away. I want to go to the party with you." I whined.

"Everybody will see us." He complained.

"They'll be too drunk to notice," I said.

"I'm guessing Al will be there. You did say, everyone. I don't want Al to see me there." He said. I frowned. I really wanted to go to this party with Keith. Maybe even see drunk Keith. Then I had an idea.

"Wait. Maybe if Keith doesn't want to go Kathy will." I whispered. Keith frowned.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"Maybe you can go as Kathy instead of Keith. Like dress up in a girl costume, ditch the binder, maybe get a wig and some I can do your makeup." I said.

"I don't know..." He started to say.

"You said the only reason you don't want to go is that you don't want them to see us together and you don't want Al to see you. Plus I can say that I brought a hot chick with me." I said.

"Ok. Say that I do go with you, I'm not saying I am just theoretically. What would we go as?" He asked. I thought for a minute.

"Ooo! We could go as Ladybug and Chat Noir!" I said.

"Ladybug and what now?" He said confused.

"You've never seen miraculous ladybug?" I asked.

"No. Isn't that a kids show?" He said.

"Yeah, but so is the Tangled series but you watch that," I said.

"Shut up. It's based off a really awesome movie." He said.

"Ok. So no miraculous. I'm going to have to get you into that. Maybe we can do adventure time." I suggested.

"Ew. The main character's voice in that is so annoying. He's clearly gay." He said.

"What!? You're crazy." I said.

"No adventure time." He said.

"Fine," I grumbled.

"How about we just go to the Halloween store and find something good." He suggested.

"Wait. Does this mean we're doing it?" I asked.

"It means if we find a good costume and you let me pay then I'll go." He said. I smiled and kissed his cheek again.

"Thanks, Kathy," I said quietly.

"Don't call me that. You can at the party but not at school." He whispered.

"Now get back to work before the teacher catches you." He said.

<><><><>  
Major time skip  
to the sleepover  
<><><><>

Keith

Shiro and I sat in the house waiting for everyone to arrive.

"Behave boys. Don't destroy the house. Your father and I are staying with my parents for the weekend." Mae said.

"Ok. Have fun Mom. Tell grandma I love her." Shiro said.

"You can tell her yourself on Sunday. She's coming back with us until Tuesday. She wants to meet Keith." Mae said.

"Oh....um...." I started to say.

"It's ok Keith. She's really nice." Shiro said, "Where is she going to stay? Since we don't really have a guest room anymore."

"You're taking the couch until Tuesday," Mae said. Shiro nodded.

"So why is she only staying until Tuesday?" Shiro asked.

"Because she has a bingo night on Wednesday. But she wanted to come over for Keith's birthday. It's not every day your sudden grandson for only a month and a half turns eighteen." Mae said.

"Just curious, why did you adopt someone who would turn eighteen in two months?" I asked.

"Well, when Lee and I heard your story about your parents being murdered and how you never found the right home we knew that we needed to help. We didn't care if you left us after you turned 18 we just knew we wanted to help you." Mae said. I smiled. She glanced at Shiro.

"Takashi can you go help your father with the car." She said. He nodded and got up. She watched him leave. Once he was out of the room she looked at me.

"I know about your gender Keith." She said. I looked at her, terrified that she was going to kick me out. This is how it happened the last few times.

"Y-You do? Who told you?" I asked quickly.

"Your lawyer. She called, wanting to discuss your parents will." She said.

"I'll pack my bag then," I said.

"No. Keith, when I said I wanted to help you I meant it. Lee and I support you. You're always welcome here. No matter who or what you are we will still love you like our own." She said. I looked up at her surprised. None of my adopted families have ever said that. Or anything like that.

"Are you serious?" I said, holding back my tears.

"Of course." Mae said, "I see myself in you sometimes. I lost both my parents in a car accident. I had to go through the system. Families didn't like me because I was Japanese. People shouldn't judge you based on your race, gender, sexuality, or anything. They should just accept you for who you are."

She pulled me into a hug. I hugged back.

"If you ever need anything, like products or anything don't be afraid to ask." She said.

I nodded and sat back down.

"You should tell Shiro. I understand that you can't yet but I promise he will support you." She said. I nodded. Just then Shiro walked back into the house.

"Alright boys, were leaving. If I come back and any of my wine is missing then your in trouble." Mae announced before giving Shiro and I a hug and leaving.

"Not that it's any of my business but what mom said about your parents...she never told me about that. I'm really sorry Keith." Shiro said after a few minutes.

"It's ok. I was really little when it happened. In fact, it was about three days after my eleventh birthday." I said.

"Oh. Wait, is that why you've been so strange lately because it's so close?" Shiro asked. I nodded.

"Listen. We all are here for you. If you want a shoulder to cry on we all got you. Even Lance. I know he's a bit of a pain but he cares for you just like the rest of us." He said I nodded.

"Thanks, Shiro," I said. Just then the door opened and Matt and Pidge entered. Shiro greeted his boyfriend with a kiss.

"Ew! No PDA. Just because I know now doesn't mean I want to see it." Pidge said. She found out in a similar fashion I did, walking in on them on the couch watching movies. For some reason, Shiro was shirtless again. I guess it was some weird relationship thing they had. I wondered if Lance and I would have something like that.

"Hey, Keith. I brought over the games you asked for." Pidge said, handing me a stack of Wii games. Lance for some reason asked me to request a game called, 'Just Dance'. I had never heard of it before but it sounded interesting. Maybe it had to do with that one Lady Gaga song.

Allura and Coran were the next two to show up. Coran went to talk to Pidge probably about college stuff or his mustache. You could never really tell with Coran.

"That's strange, usually Lonce and Hunk are here by now," Allura said. 

"Maybe Hunk is here early but Lance is never on time," I said. Allura frowned.

"Yeah, I guess your right." She said. She went to sit with Shiro and Matt. I decided to sit with them as well.

"No pizza Matt?" I asked.

"Nope. We're staying with Shiro, he always cooks when we come to his house." He's an amazing cook. Matt said. Shiro blushed.

"I'm not that good. Hunk can cook really good too." Shiro said. There was I knock at the door. I went to go get it.

"Hey, Hunk," I said as I opened the door. He didn't have Lance with him.

"Hey, I brought cookies from the bakery." Hunk said, holding up a box of cookies.

"Great. Put them in the kitchen. Preferably high so Pidge doesn't eat them all." I said. He nodded and walked inside. I was about to close the door when I saw Lance's car pull up. I instantly smiled. Man, that boy could make me happy just by looking at him. I stepped onto the porch, quietly closing the door behind me.

"Hey, I didn't make you wait too long did I?" He asked as he got out of his car.

"If I'm waiting for you, it's never too long," I said. He pulled me into a hug. Even though we had seen each other just a couple of hours ago it was still almost too long.

"They found out. My parents, they know about me." I said as he embraced each other.

"How did they react?" He asked, clear concern in his voice.

"They accepted me. They actually accepted me. None of my families ever have accepted me. I...I don't have to worry about leaving again." I whispered. He hugged me tighter.

"That's great Keith. Did they tell Shiro?" He asked. I shook my head.

"She wants me to tell him. But I don't think I'm ready." I said. He nodded.

"Just know I'll be here for you the whole way." He said.

"Thank you," I said. He kissed my forehead before pulling away.

"Come on, let's go inside before Pidge starts coming up with crazy theories of us being a secret couple." He said.

"Or before she eats all the cookies," I said, laughing.

"There's cookies!?" Lance said. I nodded and he ran for the door. He burst into the living room demanding where the cookies were.

"Thank GOD you're here. We've been waiting to play Just Dance for like ten WHOLE minutes." Pidge said dramatically.

"Ooo! You did bring it! Let me grab a cookie then I'll play!" Lance said. He came out of the kitchen with two cookies, handing one to me.

"Thanks," I said. He winked at me then walked over to Pidge and Hunk.

"Ok. It's time. We have to play our song." He said excitedly.

Pidge groaned. "We always play that song."

"Because it is a great song," Lance said. He put the Just Dance disk in and grabbed three Wii remotes, tossing two the Pidge and Hunk.

"Fine. I'm only agreeing to this because you look ridiculous when you dance." Pidge said. Lance rolled his eyes.

"I look amazing when I dance Pidgeon. You're just jealous." He said. This time she rolled her eyes but didn't say anything.

"So what's the point of this game?" I asked Matt.

"It's a dancing game. You match the movements of the people on screen to get points. I don't think anyone has ever beat Lance." He explained. I watched Lance pick the song. It sounded familiar, I had probably heard Lance play it in the car before but I couldn't name it. Not until Lance started singing along.

"Fergalicious definition make them boys go loco  
They want my treasure, so they get their pleasures from my photo  
You could see me, you can't squeeze me  
I ain't easy, I ain't sleazy  
I got reasons why I tease 'em  
Boys just come and go like seasons  
Fergalicious." He sang, Making Pidge do the backup vocals.

Unlike Pidge and Hunk, Lance danced with his whole body, not just his arms. He stayed his hip to the beat, he moved his legs the same way the person onscreen did. If anything he did better than the person on screen. By the time the song was over Hunk and Pidge was covered in sweat, but Lance was jumping around excited.

"New high score!" Lance exclaimed. He gave Hunk a hug and attempted to give Pidge one, who eventually gave up and hugged back.

"You were both worthy opponents." He said. He turned to Shiro.

"I believe it is our turn." He said offering Shiro a hand. Shiro had explained to me while Lance, Hunk, and Pidge was dancing, that they had a system.  
First Pidge, Hunk, and Lance to Fergalicious By Fergie.

Second Shiro and Lance to Hips Don't Lie By Shakira.

Third Matt, Coran, and Lance to Toxic By Britney Spears.

Last was Allura and Lance to California Girls By Katy Perry.

They had a system so that they all had three songs worth of breaks before they had to go again. All except Lance. Their plan was to get him so tired he wasn't able to win. But it never worked.

"Go easy on Shiro, he's only six," Pidge said. Shiro glared at her but didn't get time to lecture her because the song started.

Lance sang along to this one as well, knowing every single word. And he was right. His hips didn't lie. Shiro wasn't a bad dancer either. He managed to get within two hundred points of Lance's score. Lance hugged Shiro at the end, I guess it was his version of a good game handshake.

"Matt, Coran. Britney awaits." Lance said.

Their dance went by quick, as did Allura's. After their dance, Lance walked up to me.

"A new challenger approaches." He announced. He offered his hand to me. I laughed and took it. He guided me to the screen, handing me a remote.

"I'm assuming you haven't played this before?" Lance asked. I shook my head.

"Good. Then you won't beat my high score." He said. He scrolled through the songs until he landed on,   
Despacito. 

Of course, he picks this one.

"Just follow the movements on the screen. Don't worry, this song is easy." He said.

The song started. Lance moved to the song like he had done every day. His hips moved, he sang every word, I was almost too distracted by him to actually do the dance right. Eventually, about halfway through the song, I got the hang of it. I even caught up to Lance's score. But of course he decided to really put his hips into it and I may have gotten distracted all over again. In the end, I was about 400 points behind him.

Once we finished I turned to him.

"That's not fair you cheated!" I complained.

"What? No, I didn't!" He defended.

"Yeah, you did!" I said.

"What did I do?" He asked.

"You...You..." I stuttered, my face red.

"He what?" Pidge asked.

"He...was shaking his hips," I whispered below my breath.

"What was that?" Lance asked.

"You were shaking your hips! It was distracting!" I said loudly. Pidge fell out of her chair laughing. Lance's face was slightly pink.

"You were looking at his hips?" Hunk asked.

"Yeah! So what, I'm gay. You would too. Back me up, Matt," I said.

"Yeah....No I wasn't looking at his hips," Matt said.

"Yeah, you were too busy looking at Shiro's," Lance said. Matt managed to hide it well, rolling his eyes and using 'I'm getting a cookie' as an excuse to get up.

"So what's next?" I asked.

"Well, I wanted to talk about the party actually," Allura said. She pulled out several shiny pieces of paper.

She handed one to each of us, including Matt who walked back in.

The paper, which was decorated in glitter, had the following:

You Are Invited   
To Allura and Coran's  
Halloween Party  
10/31/18  
Please Wear A Costume  
(Address Here)   
Do Not Park In My Yard (Lance)

"Hey! That happened one time!" Lance complained. Allura laughed.

"Just wanted to make sure you got it this time." She said.

"Well, for your information I need two. I just so happened to have a date." Lance said.

"Wow, Already? You usually are desperate to find a date the day before. How much is she charging you?" Pidge said.

"I'll have you know that she was very happy to go with me. And she isn't getting paid unless you count that she gets to spend the night with Lancey Lance." Lance said.

"What's her name, Lancey Lance?" Shiro asked.

"Kathy. Bianca introduced us the other day." Lance said.

"Do you have a picture?" Pidge asked.

"Sadly, no. But you'll see her soon." Lance said winking.

"Wait, I thought everyone goes to this party. How are you going to give out invitations to everyone?" I asked.

"Actually they're just for decoration. I really like making them. Plus you have something to remember the night, aside from a week of being hungover." Allura said. I handed her mine.

"I think I'll pass. I'm not a big fan of Halloween. Or parties." I said. She frowned.

"Why not?" She asked. I glanced at Shiro.

"Well, my parents died 4 days before Halloween. I'm usually thinking about them and I forget about Halloween. I might drive out to our old place on Halloween actually. It's a lot easier than driving out the day of, because if I'm near their graves the day of there's usually a reporter there trying to interview me. It happened two years ago actually." I said. Everyone except Shiro and Lance looked confused.

"Why would there be a reporter?" Matt asked.

"Because my parents were murdered. And they try to get me to explain more on what happened." I said slowly. 

"Oh my God. I'm so sorry Keith." Allura said.

"I shouldn't have said anything," Matt said.

"No, it's fine. You guys are my closest and only friends. You deserve to know. I can tell you the story." I said.

"You don't have to if you don't feel comfortable Keith." Hunk said.

"No, it's fine. I think I'd feel more comfortable telling you." I said. I took a deep breath.

"Well, it started on October 26th, 2011. I was outside on my parent's porch. It was late at night and I was watching the stars. When I was younger I was fascinated with astronomy. I was walking in my front yard looking at the stars when I smelt the smoke. I looked back and my house...was on fire. I tried to go back in and scream for my parents but the people who set it on fire grabbed me. I guess they knocked me out. The police found me unconscious in my yard. And I guess they caught the guys. After that, I was put into the system. Stayed with my first family for two years then they decided they didn't like me." I explained. I hadn't really told Lance the story so he was just as surprised as the rest of them. It wasn't the complete truth. The complete truth is for me and me alone.

Hunk was the first to react. He came over and gave me a hug. Then Lance. The rest of them joined in. Some people say actions speak louder than words. They are right. Nothing any of them could have said would have made me feel happier than I was at that moment.


	27. Chapter 27

Lance

Keith went to bed after Shiro made food. I was going to go up and check on him but I wasn't sure how the others would react to it.

"Hey, we need to start talking about Keith's birthday," Shiro said.

"Oh yeah. Why did we wait four days before to plan this." Hunk said.

"Because we aren't smart," I said.

"You aren't smart," Pidge said.

"I said we, not I," I said. Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Ok. I have a plan." Allura said, "We need a cake, Hunk you're in charge of that."

Hunk nodded.

"Ok. Decoration. Lance and I can take care of." She said.

"Pidge, Shiro is going to take you and Matt shopping for presents and stuff. You guys are in charge of wrapping stuff." She continued.

"And now for location." She said. She looked at Shiro. Before he could say anything I cut in.

"We could do it at my place," I said.

"What? Why?" Pidge asked.

"Think about it. No parents. It's small enough that we don't have to buy too many decorations. And he likes my kittens." I said.

"What about our parents?" Shiro asked.

"Well, you said that your grandma was leaving Tuesday morning so you're having the party Monday night. You guys have your party. Then I'll invite him over after school Tuesday to see the cats and boom! Surprise party. I'll skip swimming that day to help." I said. The others nodded.

"That could work." Allura said, "Ok. I'll be at your house to clean on Sunday. There's no way I'm going to have a party at your place without cleaning up first."

"Hey! I'm a teen living alone what do you expect!?" I said.

"Oh shut up. You use that excuse every time." Pidge said.

"Because it still applies!" I complained.

"Whatever." She said.

"Ok. And everyone needs to go out and buy your own gifts as well. We'll have Shiro, Matt, and Pidge buy the group gifts but you need your own too." Allura said. We all nodded.

"Hey Shiro, ima use your upstairs bathroom, Hunk's taking too long down here," I said.

"Yeah go ahead. You don't have to announce it though." Shiro said. I turned to everyone.

"Attention everyone. I am about to take a shit in the upstairs bathroom. I will spray the air freshener but I would not use that bathroom for a while." I announced. Shiro rolled his eyes. I smiled and walked upstairs.

Of course, I wasn't actually going to the bathroom I was saying Good night to Keith but they didn't need to know that.

I quietly opened the door to his room and slowly shut it behind me. Keith was curled up in his blankets like a little kitten. It was cute enough that I snapped a picture.

"Noooo. No pictures." He said sleepily.

"Did that wake you up? The flash was off." I said.

"No, it was your shit announcement." He grumbled into his pillow. I sat on the bed next to him.

"You okay?" I asked.

"No no, I was tryin to sleep." He mumbled.

"Sorry," I said. I kissed his forehead.

"Just wanted to say goodnight," I said quietly.

"Join me," He said, patting the bed next to him.

"I can't Keef. If they figure out I'm in here instead of the bathroom the cats out of the bag." I said.

"Ugh. Who says that anymore?" He asked, grumpily, still not getting up or opening his eyes.

"I do. Now deal with it." I said.

"Go back downstairs dummy." He said. I kissed him again before standing up.

"I love you, Keith," I said.

"ILoveyoutoo." He said, slurring his words together. It was technically the first time we had said that to each other. He probably wouldn't remember anyway.

I quietly exited his room before walking over to the bathroom and flushing the toilet so they wouldn't be suspicious. I also washed my hands because toilets are nasty.

Once I got back downstairs Hunk had fallen asleep on the couch.

"Geez, took you long enough," Pidge said. She looked like she was on the verge of passing out as well.

I noticed Shiro and Matt sneak upstairs. Probably to sleep in Shiro's bed instead of the floor. Allura was passed out in the recliner and Coran was curled up on a desk chair.

"Wow, I was only gone for like 5 minutes and everyone is asleep," I said, yawning.

"Yeah. I just wish Shiro had more couches." Pidge said.

"I'm pretty sure he's got a couple bean bag chairs upstairs in his room. Curl up on one of those." I said.

"No thank you. Matt and him are probably making out again." She said. I looked at her wide-eyed. Then glanced at the others to make sure they were asleep.

"How do you know about that?" I whispered.

"They are so obvious. They were almost sitting on top of each other while we were discussing Keith's party." She said, "Plus you were right, Matt was staring at Shiro during just dance. And Shiro, Matt."

"I am so glad you know. Now we can fuck with them." I said.

"Who all knows?" She asked.

"Just me and Keith," I said.

"Keith and I." She corrected.

"Whatever."

"So does Shiro know you guys know?" She asked.

"Just Keith. Does Matt know about you?" I asked.

"Yeah, but I got a video of them for blackmail so he pretends like I don't know. Although they're not good at hiding it." She said.

"Right. They are so obvious." I said.

"Well, I'm going to sleep," Pidge said, snatching a pillow from the couch.

"Good night gremlin," I said.

"Shut up." She said before curling up to her pillow.

I laid down on the floor and slowly drifted to sleep.

<><><><>

I woke up the next morning somewhere else. Like I wasn't downstairs on the living room rug. I could tell because I was covered in blankets and pillows.

I opened my eyes and found I was in Keith's room. It was easy to tell it was his room. Emo decor set up neatly. Plus I've gone in his room a couple times before.

Keith wasn't in there with me. Which meant he probably saw me on the floor and brought me here when he got up. I checked my phone and saw a that Keith had sent me a text pretty much explaining what I assumed. Pidge was in his parent's room.

I sat up and stretched. I also saw a text from Allura.

Zelda: Hey, I need you to take Keith shopping or something. Distract him, we're going to clean your apartment today and buy the gifts. Just keep him away from your apartment and from his house.

I got up and dug through Keith's drawers. Sometimes he stole my clothes. So if I'm every staying at his place I usually have a clean outfit.

I eventually found a shirt that had the Katy Perry dancing sharks on it and a pair of black sweatpants that say 'Tasty' on the butt. I didn't remember buying that particular pair of pants but I wouldn't be surprised if I did.

I walked downstairs and saw Keith eating cereal while sitting on the kitchen counter. The living room was empty. I walked up and got on the counter next to him.

"Hey." He said between bites.

"Hey. Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Halloween store. They wanted to get decorations for Allura's party." He said. He finished his cereal and rinsed his bowl.

"Well. I guess that means we get the day together. Maybe get us a costume." I said.

"What if they see us at the Halloween store?" He asked.

"We'll be fine. I know where the best Halloween store is." I said. We got off the counter and walked to the door.

"Are those my pants?" Keith asked.

"Oh, they're yours? I thought you stole them from me. Explains why they're so small. You have small skinny legs." I said. He rolled his eyes.

"We're taking your car. I don't feel like driving." He said.

"Awesome. Means I get to pick the music." I said.

"On second thought-"

"Nope. Your stuck listening to my music." I said, grabbing his arm before he could grab the keys to his bike.

We got in the car and I instantly plugged in my phone and started playing some of the greatest music ever. Britney Spears.

"You have the spirit of a 14-year-old girl inside you. Who even listens to Britney anymore?" He asked. I simply ignored him and turned up the music, singing louder.

"OOPS, I DID IT AGAIN! I PLAYED WITH YOUR HEART, GOT LOST IN THE GAME! OH BABY, BABY!" Keith rolled his eyes, but I saw a slight smile.

We drove out of town and to the town next to us where the better Halloween store was. I pulled into the parking lot and we got out.

<><><><>  
Keith  
<><><><>

Lance ran around the store picking up nearly every costume screaming,

"Ooo! Keith this is it! Oh, wait this one! Noooo! Look at this one!" He kept saying. I told him if he found 6 decent couples costume choices I would pick between the ones he picked. My only condition was I would not wear a crop top.

"Ok. I picked my six." He said. He held up the first set.

"Batman and Robin." I said.

"Batman and Sexy Robin." He corrected.

"No." I said. He frowned and put them down. He grabbed the next set.

"Red Riding Hood and a Wolf." I said.

"Hey. That is supposed to be Sexy Wolf thank you very much." Lance said.

"First. I'm not wearing a Wolf costume with a crop top. Second, you're a furry." I said.

"Ok. First, I am not a furry! Second, you would be red riding hood." He said.

"No."

He pulled up the next set. As soon as I saw them I pushed them down.

"Nope nope. I am not doing vampires and werewolves. My Twilight obsession ended when I was 14." I said. He frowned, then grabbed the next set.

"Angel and Devil. Obviously, I would be the angel." He said.

"Ok, your getting better. But how would this hide who I am? There isn't a mask or anything." I said.

"Maybe just put this in the maybe pile." He said. He grabbed the next set.

"Zombies..?" I said confused.

"Yeah. And yours had a big hole right-"

"Nope. What's the last one?" I asked.

"Aw man your no fun." He said. He held up the last set. It was a witch and a black cat.

"That one isn't bad. Pretty Traditional. As long as your the cat." I said. He nodded.

"This one was my second choice." He said smiling.

"What was your first?"

"Sexy Ghosts." He said, completely straight-faced. I started laughing.

"Yeah, because ghosts can be sexy," I said sarcastically.

"What? It's a good idea." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on. Let's pay." I said. I took the costumes and walked to the check out area.

"Oh! Go to number three!" Lance said, pushing me to the register before I can protest. Behind the counter was a guy, about 17 with black hair in your typical emo style. He had dark brown eyes and tan skin. He watched us walk up. 

"Of course you come to my register." He said to Lance.

"Hey, Javi! You finally got a job." Lance said. I heard about Javi, one of Lance's cousins before. He was Bianca's brother. They also had another brother named Harley. But Harley was only 13. I had never met any of Lance's family other than Bianca and her kids.

"Yeah. B threatened to kick me the street so I didn't have a choice." Javi grumbled.

"She's only trying to help you. Plus, she only has the money to support two kids not three." Lance said. Javi said something in Spanish under his breath.

"Is this your gay boy you've been talking about?" Javi asked.

"The one and only. Javi this is Keith, Keith this is my cousin Javi." He said we shook hands.

"Nice to meet you." I said.

"Your total is $42.50." He said. I handed him the cash.

"Say hi to Bianca and the kids for me," Lance said before we walked out. Lance then turned around and ran back in realizing he forgot the bag.

"So, are we going back to your place or mine?" I asked. He thought for a minute.

"Actually, how about I introduce you to the cutest baby to ever live," Lance suggested. I shrugged my shoulders.

"I guess. Whose is it?" I asked.

"One of my cousins. Her daughter is the cutest little thing. She even said I was her godfather." He explained.

"Which cousin?" I asked. He had given me a brief rundown of his family before but it was hard for him to remember all of them.

"Louise. I always call her Lou. She's the one who married my old surfing instructor." He explained. I nodded.

He drove for a while until he pulled into a small single family home. It seemed pretty nice, similar to Shiro's house but smaller.

We got out and walked up to the house. Lance simply walked in like he owned the place.

The front room was empty. Lance kept walking until he got to a living room.

"Hey, Primo? What brings you around town? And why is one of Javi's vampires with you?" A woman, who I assumed was Louise, said as we walked in the living room. 

"First. This isn't one of Javi's vampires. This is my boyfriend Keith. Second, I came to see my beautiful goddaughter." He walked passed her to the baby, who was crawling on the floor. She was about 1, and Lance wasn't wrong, she was adorable.

Louise was a bigger woman. It wasn't an insult just an observation. She had long extremely curly black hair. Her eyes were gray. And she, of course, was the McClain tan.

Louise walked up to me and offered her hand. I shook it.

"I'm Louise Sanchez-McClain. Lance has told us about you. It's good to finally meet you." She said.

"Yeah. Same...I mean Lance has told me about you too. And it's good to meet you." I said. She smiled.

"Abuela would have liked you. You seem polite and well mannered." She said out of nowhere.

"Thank you," I said, somewhat awkwardly.

"Your right Prima. She does look just like Abuela." Lance called from the living room. He was laying on the ground playing airplane with the baby.

"Why do you think we named her after Abeula?" Louise asked. Lance walked over with the happy baby.

"You named your baby Abeula?" I asked confused.

"Yeah? You have a problem with that?" Louise asked. Then suddenly they started laughing. Including the baby for some reason.

"No. Abeula's name wasn't Abeula Keith. Her name was Sierra. This is Sierra Junior. Just like how Bianca named her son's Benjamin and Elijah. Benjamin is my dad's name and Elijah was Abeulo's name." Lance said.

"Oh," I said awkwardly. Lance rarely talked about his parents ever.

"She is really cute," I said. She had curly light brown hair, not much of it but it was cute. Bright blue eyes and of course the McClain Family tan skin. I learned that almost everyone in the family had it.

"Do you want to hold her?" Louise asked.

"Really?" I asked. She nodded. Lance handed me the baby. I sat down on the couch. She crawled up and started playing with my hair.

"See. Even she thinks the mullet isn't good. No Bueno for the ladies." Lance said.

"Yeah, well you and I both know that's not who I'm impressing. Plus you play with my hair all the time. I almost think you secretly like it." I commented.

"Wow. You two fight like an old married couple." Louise commented.

"Speaking of old married couples, where's Sam?" Lance asked. Emphasizing the word 'old'.

"He's working. Won't be home until 6. You guys are welcome to stay for dinner but were getting takeout." She said.

"No. We've got plans," Lance said. I only half listened to them while playing with the baby.

"Oh. You're going to take him to-"

"Yep. You know it's a tradition right. I just thought I'd visit my favorite girl." Lance said, "And I guess I'm visiting you too Louise."

Louise punched him.

"Man, she really liked you," Louise commented. The baby had curled up in Keith's arms and fell asleep.

"She never liked strangers. Especially guys. She never liked any guy who isn't family. I think she can tell by the skin color." Louise said.

Lance and I laughed, sharing an inside joke. The baby liked Keith because he was a girl.

"Why are you laughing?" Louise asked. Lance looked at me. I nodded.

"You can tell her," I said.

"Keith is Transgender. He's actually a girl. He's the Kathy I've been raving about of my Snapchat story for Halloween." Lance said. Louise examined me. Then gasped.

"Dios Mio. Your Kathy Kogane aren't you?" She asked. I nodded. She came over and gave me a hug.

"I'm sorry dear. About your parents." She whispered. How did she know who I was?

"Does Bianca know about this!?" Louise asked. Lance shook his head.

"And if you couldn't tell anyone that would be great," Lance said. Louise nodded.

"You should really tell her. It...well...this is all just a huge...coincidence." Louise said, trying to find the right words.

"Ok. I mean, as long as it's ok with Keith of course. We'll have to do it later. We need to leave now actually." Lance said I nodded, carefully placing the baby on the couch, and got up. Louise gave me another hug.

"Hope to see you again soon Primo. And it was nice to meet you, Keith." She said before we left the house.

"That was strange. Did your family know mine or something?" Lance asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing actually. I don't know." I said, "We should talk to Bianca. Louise said she would know."

"Well....actually we can't right now. I have something planned." Lance said. I looked at him confused but nodded.

"Ok," I said. He gestured to his car.

"Shall we?" Lance asked. I smiled and got in the car.


	28. Chapter 28

Lance seemed excited. Which wasn't out of the ordinary when we hung out, but he seemed different this time.

"Lance. Are we almost there?" I asked.

"I can't tell you it's a surprise. I promise you'll love it." He said.

He smiled at me before looking back at the road. We had only been in the car for about 5 minutes but he hadn't said anything to me about a surprise date until Louise asked.

He turned off the main road and onto a sketchy dirt road.

After about a mile he pulled over.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Its a surprise. Now get out and follow me." He said. He grabbed a backpack from the backseat and walked on the path.

It was dark and we were walking through the woods. I grabbed his hand. Not that I was scared or anything. I never get scared.

Maybe I get a little scared sometimes...

Ok, I'll admit I was scared.

It's not every day your boyfriend takes you into a random part of the woods at sunset with a mysterious backpack. And he wouldn't tell me what we were doing. But as much as I hate to admit it I trust him. Believe it or not. He was an idiot but he seemed pretty excited about this.

We walked uphill on a dirt trail for about 7 minutes, sometimes running into large trees that had fallen over, in which case Lance had to help me get over them.

We eventually got to the top of the hill. The sun had fully set. The day had gone by really fast.

Lance had pulled out a blanket and laid it on the grass. He patted the spot next to him for me to sit.

He handed me an item wrapped in tinfoil.

I unwrapped it. It was a Pbnj.

I smiled at him.

"I have to say this is the most romantic picnic I've been on," I said as I took a bite out of my sandwich. He put a bag of sour cream and onion chips between us.   
(A/N: the most romantic food in my opinion)

"Oh? How many picnics have you been on?" He asked.

"Well, my mom used to take me out and have picnics. Sometimes we'd go for a hike and have a picnic. Sometimes she would just set up one on our front lawn under the big oak tree." I explained. I smiled as the memories tugged at me. Then frowned realizing I would never have that again.

Lance grabbed my hand and squeezed it reassuringly. I looked at him. I could never be sad if I was with him. He made me happy just by being there.

I smiled again and took another bite of my sandwich.

"So why did you bring me up here? Was just for the food or...?" I asked.

"I wanted to take you to one of my favorite places. I used to go here when I was younger. That house we passed on the drive here was my old house." He said.

"Lance. We passed like twenty houses." I said. He glared at me.

"I meant the last one." He said. I laughed. He smiled.

"Anyways I used to go here when I needed time to think. I figured that since I saw the place you go to when your upset that you should see mine." He said.

We sat and continued to eat for a while. Lance tried doing the lady and the tramp scene with a chip instead of spaghetti. It didn't work as well, the chip turning to crumbs as soon as I took a bite.

"Keeeeeeiiiiith. One more try please." He said as he hung upside down from a tree, now trying to reenact the Spider-Man kiss. He seemed convinced that we needed to do every romantic cliche from the movies.

"No. You headbutted me last time. My head still hurts." I said.

"Stop being a baby and kiss me." He said. I rolled my eyes. Our blanket was underneath the tree Lance had been hanging from. It had a low hanging branch. The tree was so old I was pretty sure Baby Lance had climbed in it.

"Pleeeaaase. I'll be your best friend." Lance pleaded.

"Since when has 'I'll be your best friend' ever worked. Why would I do something I don't want to so you can be my best friend." I said. Lance whined.

"Plus you already are my best friend," I said. His eyes lit up.

"I am?" He asked.

"Why wouldn't you be? I hang out with you more than I hang out with anyone." I said.

"I would have thought it was Pidge. You guys have a lot in common." He said.

"Why, because we've both been Trans? Or are currently Trans?" I asked.

"I mean, I was going to say your both assholes but that works too I guess." He said. He tried to reach out and grab me but I was just out of arm's length.

"Come on! Kiss me!" Lance whined. Still trying to grab me.

"I didn't hear a please," I said.

"I did say please! Come on! I'll be your b-"

"If you say 'I'll be your best friend' again I'm leaving," I said. He frowned. I decided to ignore him, of course, he was hanging from a tree right above me like a crazy monkey wanting food.   
I decided the best way to ignore the monkey was to close my eyes.

The area was so peaceful I could fall asleep. I almost did. That was until Lance opened his mouth.

"I was going to say, boyfriend." He mumbled. My eyes shot open. I stared up at him. His face was red. Whether it was from blushing or all the blood rushing to his head from being upside down for so long I didn't know.

I slowly sat up so I was level with his face. He was definitely blushing now. I grabbed his head to keep him from swinging and connected our lips.

I'm not going to say it was a "Magic Kiss" or a "Perfect Moment". This wasn't a movie. Or some sappy book. This was real life. It was a kiss. Kissing isn't exactly neat or clean. It had as much slobber as any other kiss. And with one of us being upside down it wasn't as easy. We had to stop because he almost fell on me.

He didn't fall on me, but he did fall.

"Ow." He muttered, as well as a few Spanish curse words. I laughed.

"Are you laughing at my misery?" He asked.

"No, I'm laughing at your stupidity," I said. I kissed him.

"Does this mean your my...boyfriend now? Or was that a pity kiss? Was my offer too soon?" He asked.

"Well, we've been going out for like a month. I'm pretty sure it isn't too soon." I said. He smiled. Then groaned in pain.

"Keeeith I think I'm broken! I need you to carry meeee!" He complained.

"No."

"Pleeeaaase! I'm dying! You would leave me here to die! I am your boyfriend Keith!" He whined.

"I'm not going to carry you. And you're not dying." I said.

"Come on Keith. Comfort your dying lover! Cradle me in your arms as I pass into the beyond!" Lance said, he made a, what he called a "dying sound" and collapsed into my lap.

I rolled my eyes.

"You're a dork."

"I'm-"

"I swear if you say 'I'm your dork' I'm going to punch you," I said.

"Shut up Kathy." He said. I glared at him.

We sat and looked at the stars for a while. Lance pulled out his phone and played music.

"I swear to god if you put on anyone that you have a poster of I'm leaving you," I said.

"You know I like other music you know." He said.

He placed his phone between us. It quietly played Panic! At The Disco.

"Wow. For once I can't criticize your choice in music." I said. He rolled his eyes.

Instead of responding he just sang along to the song. Trying to get me to sing with him.

"Do I look Lonely? I see the shadows on my face. People have told me, I don't look the same." He sang. He didn't have the most amazing voice I had ever heard. But it wasn't bad. It was kind of soothing actually. I could easily see him being able to sing his cousins to sleep.

"Come on Keef! Sing with meee!" He said.

"No. I don't sing much." I said.

"Come on. I've heard you rock No One By Alicia Keys." He protested.

"That's because that's my favorite song. Plus that was one time. And I didn't even think you were listening. It sounded like garbage." I said.

"I thought it was beautiful." He mumbled.

"That's just because you're my boyfriend," I said.

"I've only been your boyfriend for like fifteen minutes!" He said.

"So? You always compliment your boyfriend. That's like a rule." I said.

"Maybe you should listen to that rule! You're always mean to me." Lance said.

"Naw, I'm a rule breaker," I said.

Lance changed the song. Of course, he put on No One By Alicia Keys.

"No. I'm not singing," I said. He rolled over so he was right next to me.

"Come on. I'll....I'll buy you emo stuff." He said.

"Not going to work," I said.

"I'll give you a key to my apartment." He said.

"No need. You never lock your door. Plus Pidge has one." I said.

"Hmph." He said. Then his eyes lit up for you.

"I'll dance for you." He said. I considered it. I did love his dancing. That was like his superpower.

"I'll even make it shirtless if you sing the whole thing." He added. Ok, now that was a deal I could get behind. Shirtless Lance was one of the best Lance's there was.

"Ok....its a deal," I said.

"You first. But I get to pick the song I dance to." He said.

"As long as it isn't by Fergie or Beyonce I don't care," I said. He started the song over again and I sang.

<><><><>

It was completely off key and I was tired so my pitch was all over the place but Lance seemed pleased.

He had danced to Where Did The Party Go by Fall Out Boy.

"11 out of 10 performance McClain," I said as he sat back down next to me.

"Only 11? That was at least a 13." He pouted. I punched his arm.

"Shut up. I was being nice." I said. He smiled.

"If I keep my shirt off can I get a 13?" He asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

"12," I said. He frowned.

"Kidding. But put your shirt back on. It's cold out here and the mosquitos are going to eat you alive." I said. He smiled and kissed my nose. That was one of the annoying things he did to bug me. Get it, Bug, mosquitos, it was a bug pun. See I can be funny too.

Lance and I sat watching the stars for a while longer. I checked my phone. It was 10:30 pm.

"We should get going. We aren't even going to get home until 11." I said. He nodded and got up, putting the blanket in his backpack.

We walked back to the car and got in. I took the Aux Cord making sure Lance didn't play any Britney.

<><><><>

Lance dropped me off at my house. I was too tired to stay at Lance's house. He said if I came over he would make me watch the Bee Movie and the Emoji Movie. I liked Lance, but not enough to sit through the Emoji Movie again.

He walked me to the door like a proper gentleman. I kissed him before grabbing the door handle.

"Thank you for taking me on one of the best dates I've been on," I said. He smiled.

"G'night boyfriend." He said, smirking.

"Good night Novio," I said back. He looked at me confused.

"¿Sabes español?" He asked confused

"Only a little bit. I am taking Spanish this year, remember? And no, it isn't for you. I need it for college." I said.

"Do you know what Te Amo Keef means?" He asked.

"I love you too Lance," I said.

"Not quite but close enough I guess." He said  I rolled my eyes.

"Go home. Check on the kids." I said. We had taken to calling the kittens the kids for the last two weeks.

"I'm sure the kids are fine." He said.

"Did you feed them?" I asked.

"Allura was Kitten sitting today. They're fine." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Bye," I said before walking inside. Shiro was in the living room when I walked in.

"Wow, you were out late." He commented as I flopped on the couch.

"We went to see his cousins," I said, my voice muffled by the couch cushions.

"Which one?"

"I don't know. He has a lot of them. I just remember a really cute baby." I said, my face still on the couch.

"Oh. You went and saw Sierra and Louise then." He said. I nodded.

"We also saw Javi and Bianca," I said. We didn't actually see Bianca but it was more convincing saying we saw both of them rather than just one of them.

I would have continued talking but I ended up falling asleep on the couch.


	29. Chapter 29

Pidge texted me early Sunday morning and asked if I wanted to hang out with her on at the mall for the day.

Shiro said that our parents wouldn't be back until late so I didn't have to worry about being late to meet his grandma....or our grandma I guess.

I agreed to meet Pidge at the mall, in the food court. Apparently, there was a killer arcade we missed during our last visit and Pidge was determined to beat keep her high scores on all of the games.

I wasn't sure how Pidge was going to get there because she couldn't drive and Matt wasn't home. But Pidge assured me she would be fine.

Because I didn't have to worry about having to drive anyone I took my bike instead of Shiro's truck.

When I got there Pidge was waiting, eating a box of Cinnabon.

As soon as I got over to her I stole the box from her.

"Hey! Give that back!" She said. I held it high enough to where she couldn't get it.

"Nope. It's mine now." I said, and I ate the remaining deserts in the box.

She glared at me.

"You owe me." She said.

"No, I don't," I said. As we walked to the arcade.

Once we got to it Pidge dragged me from game to game, insisting we do ALL of the multiplayer games first. The first being street fighter and the last being one of the 5 racing games the arcade held. There were a couple games we couldn't exactly play. The Big Buck Hunter game was difficult because it was too tall for Pidge. She insisted she climbed on my shoulders to play. We were halfway through it when one of the employees politely asked us to "Not climb on each other in the arcade."

As the employee left Pidge muttered several curse words.

"Since when is that a rule. Lance and I do that all the time." She said.

If course Pidge and I did it again and again. After the fourth reminder, the employee gave up.

Pidge and I smiled and continued to beat the high scores of all of the games. Of course, we couldn't beat all of them. We were good but not that good. Pidge kept pulling me back to the ones we hadn't beat saying, "One more time! I promise." Needless to say, she broke that promise several times.

Eventually, I got a call from Shiro saying I needed to come home before mom and grandma got there.

Before we left Pidge and I stopped in a candy shop.

Here's something you might not have known about me. I am a chocolate addict. I have a secret stash in my room and I can't go more than one day without it. My favorite chocolate is white chocolate. What did you assume I liked more dark chocolate because I'm emo?

So you can imagine when Pidge dragged me into a candy store I was freaking out.

They had the biggest selection of chocolate stuff I had ever seen. I ran around the store like a small child trying to figure out how much I could buy with the 25 dollars left in my wallet.

One of the employees walked over to us with a sample tray. There were two choices. I ate mine, then stole Pidges.

"Hey! Stop stealing my food!" Pidge complained. I was too busy drooling over the other chocolates to care.

<><><><>

Pidge and I left the shop with a large bag of sweets. I had more than enough to keep my stash full for weeks. Maybe I could hide a stash at Lance's house. Knowing him he would probably find it, eat it all, get sick, then call me and complain about it.

"So, you're a bit of a chocoholic," Pidge said. I glared at her.

"Shut up," I said, taking a chocolate covered oreo from my bag. She laughed.

"Don't worry. I won't tell Lance." She said. I looked at her.

"Why would I care what Lance thinks?" I asked, a little too quickly. We decided to keep the whole relationship a secret until I was comfortable enough to tell them I'm transgender. I think Lance likes all the sneaking around. I'm willing to bet he pretends he's a spy sometimes.

"Keith. I know." Pidge said.

"Know what?"

"Keith. I know." 

"Know what!?" 

"I know you like Lance." Pidge finally said. I almost laughed.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," I said. Pidge studied me.

"So, you're actually admitting it." She said, opening a bag of gummy bears.

"Eh, doesn't matter to me if you know. It's not like you'll tell him anyway." I said. We walked out to the parking lot.

"And if I did?" She asked. I shrugged.

"You won't," I said.

"It's fine. I'll tell Allura. She'll tell him for me." She said. I shot her a look. She laughed.

"Kidding." She said. 

I sat on my motorcycle, putting the helmet on. Safety first kids.

"How come you only have one helmet?" Pidge asked.

"Because I usually don't ride with other people," I said.

"I've seen you give Lance a ride like a dozen times," Pidge said.

"Yeah, but you've already pointed out that I like Lance. So it should be obvious that I only let him ride with me." I said.

"Yeah, I guess." She said.

"Who's picking you up?" I asked.

"Allura. She lives pretty close to here. Plus I usually fill her in on whatever gossip I hear." She said with a wink.

"You better not tell her," I said.

"Maybe I will. Maybe I won't." She said. She held out her hand like she expected me to pay her for her silence. I rolled my eyes and gave her a candy bar.

"Thank you, kind sir." She said.

"Lance is right. You are evil." I said, before turning on my motorcycle and driving off, with her yelling behind me.

<><><><>

When I got home I sat with Shiro in the living room. I was lucky I got home when I did, the Shiroganes had just pulled up in the driveway when I got inside.

We greeted them at the door. Shiro's grandma was really nice. She was short. Almost as short as Pidge. She, of course, gave me a hug when she walked in, saying something to Mae in what sounded like Japanese.

"She doesn't speak much English." Mae said, "She said you're too skinny."

I frowned.

"Don't worry. Grandma only insults the people she likes." Shiro said.

Grandma examined me. She glanced at my hair before saying something to Mae again.

"She also said your hair was too long," Mae added.

"Of course she did," I said, rolling my eyes.

Once Grandma seemed satisfied with the inspection she opened her arms and said,   
"Welcome to the family Keith." In decent English. I, realizing I shouldn't be rude to her mainly because she looked like she could kick my butt without trying, accepted the hug.

"Thank you...Grandma." I said. She smiled.

<><><><>  
The rest of the night was just talking in the living room. Grandma made dinner, and no, it wasn't Chinese or Japanese food, it was actually Tacos. Tacos are good.   
Lance makes Tacos.   
Lance's Tacos are good too.

I didn't get to bed until around 10. By that time I had three missed texts.

Sexy Boi:   
Do you want me to get you something tomorrow morning? Coffee? Monday's always need Coffee.

<>

Allura:   
OMYGOD! PIDGE TOLD ME! I COULD TOTALLY HOOK YOU TWO UP OR SOMETHING!!!!

<>

Pidge:   
Next time don't steal my Cinnabon. 

<>

I glared at her text as if she could see it through the phone. Then again, it wasn't so bad that Allura knew. Considering Lance and I already were together.

I quickly sent the three of them a text back.

To Sexy Boi:

Sure, but only if I get to pay you back. You know what I like.

He responded almost instantly.

Sexy Boi:   
no problemo

Me:  
I'm going to bed.

Sexy Boi:  
Night babe 

Me:  
Ew. No pet names. It's bad enough you call me Keef.

Sexy Boi:  
Fine. Good night KEEF

I left him on read sent a quick middle finger emoji to Pidge and told Allura it wasn't a big crush or anything. I just thought he was cute, but fell asleep before I could read their replies if they had sent any.


	30. Chapter 30

Lance

Monday went by too quick. I had bought everyone coffee, so giving Keith one wasn't suspicious. Everyone, with an exception of Pidge, all paid me back. Which I was grateful for because I needed to be able to make next month's rent.

The rest of the day flew by. Shiro sent Snapchats of Keith's birthday party at their house. Of course, Shiro wasn't very good at Snapchat so most of the videos were him zooming in on a chair or the floor.

We weren't invited to his family party. Mainly because it was Family only. I was going to make the argument that I was technically family but I didn't. We would have his actual party on his actual birthday and on top of that, it was at my apartment. And Shiro's parents agreed to let them stay over for the night on a school night. Matt and Pidge could too. Allura, Coran, and Hunk, unfortunately, couldn't.

The only eventful thing that happened on Monday, aside from Dads awful Snapchats, was at the end of the day. I had decided to suck up my pride, which was nearly impossible, and invite Lotor. He was one of Keith's friends after all. And the way Keith talked about him made it seem like he had changed.

I had walked to his house after school and knocked on his door. His mom answered. She knew me. Luckily she still liked me. Now Lotor's dad....well he is the school principal. He's always hated me.

"He's on the back porch." She said. I nodded and thanked her.

I walked out to the back. He was sitting on a bench, scrolling through his phone.

"Can I sit?" I asked, pointing to the spot next to him. He flinched, obviously I was the last person he expected to see.

It was awkward. We both sat there, not saying anything.

"I...I guess I'm sorry for overreacting about the whole thing." I mumbled.

"I'm sorry for sleeping with Allura. Even if I was drunk." Lotor said.

Instantly we were like 2x better than we were. We were really close before we broke up. I may or may not have missed his friendship. Even if I did kind of hate his guts.

"How's Keith?" He asked.

"That's why I'm here. I was wondering....you know since your friends...if you wanted to go to his birthday." I said, "But don't get any ideas! Keith and I are both taken."

"Yeah. He told me. Congrats." He said. He didn't sound bitter about it. He genuinely was congratulating us. Which wasn't exactly out of character for him but for some reason I didn't expect it.

"Thanks, Lotor," I said. We sat on the bench. I showed him some memes, be told me I was an idiot but laughed anyway.

"When is the party?" He asked.

"After school tomorrow. My place." I said. He nodded.

"I'll be there. As long as you don't have any expensive croissants in your fridge." He said.

"Looking back on it, it was dumb of me to get mad about that," I admitted.

"Oh my God. Did Lance McClain just apologize to me?" He asked. I punched him.

"Don't flatter yourself Mr. IUseSix-HundredDollarsOnHairProducts."  
I said.

"More like 650 but you were close." He joked.

We sat awkwardly for a second.

"Friends?" He said, offering his hand. I shook it.

"I guess," I said. He smiled. Then frowned.

"Is...Everyone else ok with me being there?" He asked.

"I talked to them. They all agreed to give you another chance. As long as you don't flirt with Allura, Keith, or Me." I said.

"So everyone else is fair game right?" He joked. I laughed.

"Actually Shiro and Matt...." I trailed off.

"They actually got together? I thought they'd never get out of their 'Looking at each other from across the room' phase." Lotor said. We both laughed. I stood up.

"I should go. Allura is doing last minute decorating at my place." I said.

"Sounds like Allura." He said.

And like that, we were friends again. It's hard not to like the guy. He was a nice guy when he wasn't being a complete asshole.

I went home after that. Allura was just leaving when I got there. I told her Lotor would be at the party. She knew I was inviting him already. I had to get her permission before I invited him in the first place.

<><><><>

The next morning the group chat was blowing up.

Marshmallow-Happy Birthday Keith

Zelda- Happy Birthday!

Matte- Happy Bday

Dad- I know I'm in the next room but Happy Birthday

Sexy Boi- Happy Birthday Loser! <3 :b

Pidgeon- Happy birthday fucker

Dad- Language!

Pidgeon- It's Keith's birthday I don't have to follow the rules.

Marshmallow- I'm pretty sure that only applies to Keith.

Emo Trash- I'll share I guess.

Private Chat:  
Sexy Boi- you're not dead!

Emo Trash- If Shiro doesn't give me back my Poptart someone will be dead -_-

Sexy Boi- don't kill him. he's the one who buys us food

Emo Trash- Fine.   
Also, you sent a heart in the group chat.

Sexy Boi- yeah but I followed it with a tongue out face so its fine  
you need to learn to speak emoji

Emo Trash- no thanks. You being fluent is enough.

Sexy Boi- you know you love me.

Emo Trash- <3

Emo Trash- I have to go.

Sexy Boi- ????

Group Chat:

Dad- Keith was just texting someone and he sent the a heart!!

Pidgeon- Who was it??????

Dad- I don't know. The name was just "Sexy Boi"

Pidgeon- ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Pidgeon- Lance?

Emo Trash- I was telling him to kiss my ass. If Shiro would have read the whole conversation he would have seen that Lance was making fun of my hair again.

Pidgeon- Prove it.

Emo Trash- Sent an Image. 

____________________________________

Emo Trash- stop making fun of my hair asshole

Sexy Boi- it looks like you put a dead rat in your hair

Emo Trash- kiss my ass

Emo Trash- <3

Sexy Boi- fuck you  
____________________________________

Matte- Why is his name Sexy Boi in your phone?

Sexy Boi- Cause i'm too hot

Marshmallow- Hot damn

Sexy Boi- call the police and the fireman

Dad- were not doing this again.   
Last time it lasted like twenty minutes.

Sexy Boi- :(

The group chat kept going but I ignored it, deciding to get dressed instead. I went simple, a purple shirt that said had a spaceship on it. It was Keith's favorite because it was really soft. I also wore jeans and my green jacket.

I got in my car and drove to school.

Allura had gotten everyone coffee.

Hunk had made Keith one of those giant chocolate muffins.

Pidge got him his own controller for her Wii. We all had our own controllers that were our favorite colors and had our names engraved on the back.

Shiro got him a box of pop tarts. The brown sugar kind because seriously no one likes the other flavors.

Matt tagged in with Pidge's gift.

I handed him my gift.

"A CD?" He asked.

"Just look at the song list," I said. It had songs that we both liked, which consisted of Fallout Boy, Alicia Keys, Panic! At The Disco, a single Beyonce song, Imagine Dragons, and some other random songs I thought he would like.

He smiled.

"Thanks, Lance." He said. He gave everyone hugs and thanked them. Of course, these weren't our real gifts. We just didn't want him to know about the real party.

Keith and I went to first period. When we sat down he kissed me on the cheek.

"Thank you for the present." He said, "I love it."

"I'm glad you liked it." I said, "Oh, by the way, your coming over to my place tonight."

"Oh?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. My face went red.

"Not like that!" I said quickly. He laughed.

"I was just messing with you," Keith said. I, for probably the first time in history, went back to my work.

"So why am I going to your place tonight?" He asked.

"It's your birthday. You said you didn't have plans tonight so I want to hang out or something. Is it so bad that I want to be with my Boyfriend on his birthday?" I asked dramatically. He rolled his eyes.

"You're a dork." He said.

"I-"

Keith cut me off. "I swear to god if you say 'I'm your dork' I'll leave you."

"Don't leave me," I whined.

"Whatever."

<><><><>

School had ended for the day. I waited for Keith to get out of his last class, which happened to be Spanish.

He looked about ready to punch someone when he walked out.

"You okay babe?" I asked.

"Don't babe me." He said.

"Woah? Cálmese Novio. What happened?" I asked. He took a deep breath.

"Nothing." He said.

"Come on, talk to me. Was it something I did." I asked.

"No. It's not you. It's just. " He made a sound of frustration. "Lotor is ignoring me, Al is being a dick, Shiro is acting strange today, I forgot my wallet at the house today and I have another Spanish test I'm not ready for on Thursday."

"Ok. One problem at a time." I said, "So Lotor is ignoring you."

He shot me a look.

"Yeah. I bet you're pretty happy about that." He grumbled.

"Actually, we made up. And I'm not jealous of him. He may have fabulous hair but I am way better than he is." I said.

"You guys made up?" He asked.

"Yeah. Last night actually. I figured since he's your friend maybe I shouldn't hate him as much anymore. Let bygones be bygones or whatever."   
I said. He squeezed my hand.

"Thanks. That really means a lot to me." He said a hint of a smile played on his lips.

"Ok. So next. Al. I'll beat him up." I suggested.

"No. Allura said something to him. She is really scary sometimes." He said.

"Yeah, she is. I remembered when I tried asking Shiro out. She hunted me down." I said.

"You tried asking Shiro out? When?" Keith asked. I thought for a minute.

"Somewhere between when he dated Bianca and when he started dating Matt." I said, "Bianca and I were fighting and I wanted to get back at her."

"Makes sense...I guess." He said. I laughed and kissed his cheek.

"You're the only one for me," I said.

"You're so cheesy that all dairy products are jealous." He said.

"Was that a joke?" I asked. He smirked.

"Come on idiot, let's go watch cringey movies at your place." He said.

"You know me too well," I said. He rolled his eyes.

"That's because you're so predictable." He said.

We walked to my car and got in.

"Hey, I can listen to that CD you got me." He said.

"I didn't get it for you. I made it." I said winking at him.

He put the CD in, the first song being Crawling by Linkin Park.

"Really? You picked this song? I'm not that emo." He said.

The first parts of the song came on and we both screamed the lyrics,

"CRAWLING IN MY SKIN, THESE WOUNDS THEY WILL NOT HEAL. FEAR IS HOW I FALL, CONFUSING WHAT IS REAAAAAAAAAAL!"

We both laughed.

We pulled up to my apartment building.

I got out and held his door open for him.

"Such a gentleman." He joked. I rolled my eyes and pushed him back in the car.

"Asshole." He said, but there was a hint of a smile on his face. I grabbed his hand and led him to my door, letting go to grab my keys.

I opened the door and turned on the lights.

"SURPRISE!" Everyone had jumped out from there hiding spots, and yelled as soon as Keith had stepped through the door.

Keith jumped nearly 5 feet in the air.

"Holy Shit!" Keith said.

Shiro and Matt, who were hidden behind my couch walked over and gave him a hug. Allura, who had hidden in the kitchen with Hunk also came out. Pidge crawled out of my tv cabinet.

"I am never hiding in there again. I'm pretty sure I sat on your Xbox." She said.

"You sat on what!? Is it broken!?" I asked. She waved the question off.

"I'm sure it's fine." She said. Lotor also walked over and welcomed Keith.

Keith looked surprised. He glanced at me. I shrugged.

"We decided to give him another chance," I said. He mouthed a 'Thank you' before turning back to everyone else.

"You guys are the best." He said.

"There's cake in the kitchen." Hunk said.

Almost instantly Keith asked, "Is it chocolate!?"

Pidge snorted.

"Yeah, Pidge for some reason specifically said you wanted a chocolate cake." Hunk said. Keith glanced at Pidge.

"Hey, I didn't tell him. All I said was that I was pretty sure you preferred chocolate over anything else." Pidge said.

"So did you guys buy it or did someone make it?" Keith asked.

"Actually, Hunk made it," Matt said.

"And I helped!" Coran said, appearing next to Keith suddenly, making Keith jump again.

"How the fuck did you-You know what, never mind I don't want to know. Let's eat." Keith said.

We all sang happy birthday, Pidge and I replacing 'Happy Birthday to Keith' with 'Happy Birthday to Asshole' which earned a glare from Shiro but we laughed it off.

Before we cut the cake Pidge said,

"You know Keith, Hunk makes the best frosting, it smells really good."

"Really?" Keith asked, his eyes lighting up.

"Yeah. Go ahead smell it. It's like a chocolate shop." I said. He looked at us excitedly before putting his face next to the cake. Pidge and I both pushed his face into the cake.

Hunk rolled his eyes.

"Every birthday. You too always find a way to trick someone into doing that." He said.

Keith turned around and looked at us.   
Chocolate frosting covering his face. Pidge and I died in laughter.

Keith grabbed a handful of cake and threw it at us. We all froze.

"That's what you get." He said, wiping the frosting off his face.

At that moment Pidge lunged at the cake grabbing two handfuls and throwing them at Keith. Suddenly we were having a three person war, throwing pieces of cake at each other. Hunk, Shiro, Allura, Lotor, Coran, and Matt all hid in the livingroom, to avoid getting cake on them.

Once we finished Keith and I were covered in cake. Pidge had managed to dodge most of it. The kitchen was a mess. Normally I would laugh but it's my kitchen, I had to clean it up.

"You always do this! Can't we have a birthday where we don't ruin the cake!" Shiro complained.

"Nope," I said, before scooping a chunk of frosting off of Keith's face and eating it. Keith swatted my hand.

"Ew! Gross! Also, don't steal my chocolate. Thanks to you and Pidge this is the only cake I get." He said.

"Actually I came prepared for a situation like this." Hunk said. He went over to the fridge and pulled out another cake.

"Lance and Pidge always find some way to ruin the cake. Last year Pidge put a firecracker in Lance's cake." He said.

"I'm going to go get cleaned up a bit," I said.

"Yeah, I probably should too," Keith said.

We both walked to the bathroom. As soon as we were away from the others Keith leaned over and licked a chunk off frosting off of my face. I just stared at him.

He smirked.

"That's for taking my frosting. And throwing cake at me." He said, before grabbing a towel and cleaning himself off.

"Do you have a shirt I could borrow?" He asked.

"I have like six of your shirts here. You keep stealing mine and leaving yours here." I said.

We both changed and joined everyone else.

"What movie should we watch?" Pidge asked.

"Shouldn't Keith pick? It is his birthday." Shiro said. Everyone looked at Keith. He shrugged.

"I don't know." He said.

"What's your favorite movie?" Matt asked.

"I don't really have a favorite." He said.

"We could just watch conspiracy theories," Pidge said. Keith's eyes lit up like they did when he saw the cake.

"Yeah! Let's do that!" He said, "Please please pleeeeeeaaaaase!"

He jumped up and down in his seat like a little kid.

"Okaaay, I guess Keith likes that idea," Matt said. We all laughed.

"Wait, what about presents?" Allura asked.

"Oh yeah," Shiro said, getting up and grabbing some, setting them in front of Keith.

He unwrapped them quickly.

Pidge got him some new headphones.

Hunk got him more muffins.

Shiro got him ANOTHER box of poptarts.

Allura got him some hair products, which was my idea because he complained about how much he hated how his hair tangled.

Coran gave him a mustache sticker. Which, as Coran said it, "Would look superb on your wheels."

Lotor got him some new emo stuff.

Matt ended up stealing the case to Keith's new headphones and gave them to him as a seperate gift.

"Sorry. I'm kind of broke at the moment." He said.

"It's ok. I didn't expect any of you to get me anything. Thank you all so much." Keith said.

"Your forgetting about my present," I said. I handed him a large box and a card.

He opened the card. He read the printed part then looked confused at the part I wrote.

"What is this?" He asked confused. He turned it around and pointed to what I had written.

생일 축하. 내 사랑.

"It's Korean. Can't you read it?" I asked.

"I'm Korean, but I can't read Korean." He said, "Or speak it."

"Oh." I frowned.

"What did it say?" He asked.

"Nothing." I said, "Just open the present already."

He opened it and pulled out a red and black motorcycle helmet. On the back, it read,

#1 Mullet

And his name was printed on the side.

He looked at it, then at me, then back at it.

"I don't know what to say." He said, lost for words.

"Hmmm." I said, "You could say 'Thank you, Lance, you're the coolest guy in the world. You're so amazing. I can't believe your still single. You're the best p-" 

"We get it. Now shut up." Pidge said.

Keith thanked everyone again and we spent the rest of the night watching conspiracies theories and listening to Pidge and Keith ramble about there thoughts on every theory.


	31. Chapter 31

Keith   
7 days later

"HALLOWEEN IS TOMORROW CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!" Lance screamed through the phone.

We were currently face timing since he couldn't hang out.

"Yeah. But you don't have to scream. Shiro's asleep and I don't want to wake him up." I said.

"Why is he asleep? It's like, 4:30 in the afternoon." He asked.

"Long day. I guess practice was a lot. You should know, you're on the team." I said. Lance shook his head.

"Had to work today." He said.

"Flower shop or makeup store?" I asked.

"Actually I got a new job that pays more. Say goodbye to the free flowers." He said.

"What's the new job?" I asked. Without hesitating, he responded with,

"Stripper."

We both died in laughter.

I heard a knock at my door.

"Keith? You okay in there?" Shiro asked from the other side of my door.

"Shit, I woke up Shiro. I got to go." I whispered.

"Love you, Keef."

I hung up. Shiro walked in.

"Hey. Heard a lot of noise, you ok in here." He said.

"Oh. I was just watching one of those stupid meme videos Lance always sends to the group chat." I lied. Shiro looked at me confused.

"You mean vines?" He asked. I nodded.

"Yeah. That." I said.

"I'm surprised you even watch anything Lance sends. You two are like rivals." Shiro said.

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"You two are always bickering and competing about 'who did better at what project' or 'who can play what sports better'," Shiro said.

"Yeah, I guess your right," I said.

"I'm going to help Allura with the decorations, I know you're not one for Halloween but do you want to come?" He asked. I shook my head.

"I have stuff I need to do today," I said.

"Ok." He said, "You know where I'll be. I'll see you later I guess."

I nodded and he left. I decided to get ready as well. I really did have a place I needed to be today.

I called Lance on my way to his house.

"Hello?" 

"Hey, I'm on my way to your house. Are you still doing this?" I asked.

"Yeah. I said I would." He said, "Wait are you on your bike right now!?"

"I'm using headphones and I'm at a stoplight," I said.

"Please don't ever call me when your driving." He said, slightly panicked.

My mind went back to when he told me about his sister. How she died in a car crash.

"I'm sorry Lance. I'll be there in just a second." I said.

"Stay safe." He said. I hung up.

<><><><>

He was waiting outside his building for me when I got there.

I handed him the old helmet.

"Are you sure you still want to do this?" I asked him again. He smiled faintly.

"I'm not going to let you go by yourself ever again." He said. He grabbed my hand and squeezed it gently.

"Thank you. But it's not going to be as bad as last time." I said. He nodded.

"I still want to be there to support you." He said. I smiled softly, but my helmet covered it.

We stayed like that for a while, me on my bike, Lance standing next to me, holding my hand, rubbing his thumb across the back of my hand reassuring me.

"Ok," I finally said, "I'm ready."

He nodded, put his helmet on, and got on the bike.

<><><><>

After about two hours we pulled into a parking lot. Lance and I got up and set our helmets on the seat.

Lance grabbed a bouquet of flowers out of the small helmet compartment on the back of the bike.

He grabbed my hand and we walked into the graveyard.

<><><><>

When we finished laying the flowers on my parents grave I said a few words, Lance said a few words, and we left. I didn't like going to visit the graveyard too often. It almost felt fake. Like they weren't actually there. I felt more emotion when I went to the house. It was as if they were buried at the house, but they had gravestones in the city.

But I didn't want to go back to the house yet.

We left within minutes of our arrival. It almost wasn't worth the two-hour trip.

<><><><>  
Once we got back to Lance's place we ordered. Chinese and watched Disney movies.

"So what's the plan for tomorrow?" Lance asked, between bites of sweet and sour chicken.

"I'll just tell Shiro I'm hanging out with one of my math partner or something," I said.

"Do you want me to pick you up so Shiro doesn't see your bike at my place?" He asked. I shook my head.

"I don't want him to see you. I can just walk." I said.

"I could walk with you." He offered.

"No, it's fine. Your apartment isn't far." I said. He nodded and we finished watching our movie.

<><><><>

It was around 7 when I got home. Shiro and Matt were watching superhero movies in the living room.

"Hey Keith, where have you been all day, you missed dinner," Shiro said.

"I was watching Lance's kittens while he was at work," I said. Lance and I had made up a cover story for today two days ago.

"So what're your plans for tomorrow during the party?" Matt asked.

"I don't know, stay home. I might see if my math partner wants to study for the upcoming test." I said. They nodded and went back to their movie.

<><><><>

Lance texted me the next day nonstop excited for the party. Shiro and Matt, who had stayed the night, both left to help for party prep.

I decided to walk to Lance's place a bit early. He had given me a key a week ago so I didn't have to worry about him not being home from work yet.

When I got to his place I just walked in. His door was unlocked so I assumed he was home. I did not expect to see him rocking out to Nicki Minaj in just his boxers.

I leaned in the doorway to his room, waiting for him to notice me.

"MY ANACONDA DON'T WANT NONE UNLESS YOU GOT-OH MY GOD KEITH! HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN STANDING THERE!?" He screamed.  
I died in laughter.

"Long enough," I said. "Now put some damn clothes on you freak, before I send the video to Pidge."

"Wait you didn't actually get a video did you?" He asked. I simply walked out of the room and to the living room.

"Keith!" He whined. He flopped on the couch in a pair of sweats and a teal t-shirt.

"How long until the party?" I asked.

"About 3 hours. We should start getting you ready." He said.

"Ready? All I have is a costume and a wig." I said. Lance shook his head.

"We need to make you look unrecognizable." He said, "And I brought all my best supplies."

He held up a very large makeup bag, that seemed way too big to just hold makeup.

He brought me into the bathroom and sat me on the counter. He dumped the various contents of the bag out on the rest of the counter.

"I'm going to put your hair up first just so your mullet doesn't get in the way." He said.

"It's not a mullet," I grumbled. He laughed and pulled out several hair brushes.

After him attempting to brush my hair, he throws his brush down.

"Ok! That's it! I'm washing your stupid hair!" He said.

"My hair isn't stupid. Your brush is stupid." I said.

"This brush is meant for long gross hair and I can't brush yours!" He complained.

"Fine. But I'm not stripping." I said. He rolled his eyes.

"I wasn't going to ask you to." He said. He grabbed a chair and set it in front of the sink.

"Sit." He ordered. I rolled my eyes and sat down. He pushed my head back and turned on the water.

After ten minutes and several hair products later he finally finished and dried my hair.

He brushed it out and tied it up.

"Ok, now for your makeup." He said.

He spent several minutes debating which brand if foundation be should use.

He had gotten a whole set of makeup just for my skin tone. He claimed it was for tonight but the receipt was dated before we went Halloween shopping.

<><><><>

Two and a half hours later he finished. When I looked in the mirror I hardly recognized myself. I looked different. He used a combination of colors that made my eyes look almost purple.

It looked so unnaturally natural. Makeup was definitely a talent he had.

"H-How...?" I asked.

"I guess your not the only artist here." He said, putting his makeup brushes away.

"Now let's get your wig on and the rest of your costume." He said. I nodded. He left the room for a second, then came back with a long, black wig.   
He helped me put it on.

"Wow. You're like a different person." He said.

"That was the idea. Do you like me better like this?" I asked. He smiled and shook his head.

"Kathy seems too flashy. I think I like Keith better." He said. I smiled.

"But you both are HOT!" He said loudly. I rolled my eyes.

"There's the Lance I know," I said. He smiled.

"Ok. Let's get costumes on." He said. We went into the bedroom where he had the costumes laid out.

"Ok. I'll have to help you so you don't mess up your makeup." He said. He lifted off my shirt and took off my pants. For most people, this would be awkward but we had sat around in his apartment in just out underclothes before. Texas gets too warm and Lance doesn't have an A.C.

"Um...You're going to half to take off your binder." He said. Now it was awkward.

Of course, I had known this would happen eventually but I almost wasn't ready. I mean, we had only been going out for about a month and only had been official for a week or so.

"Do...Do you want help?" He asked.

"No. I think I've got this." I said.

"Do you want me to leave the room?" He asked.

"I...don't want to upset you," I said.

"I understand you need time. It was hard enough for you to get used to me knowing. I can wait until your ready." He said softly. He kissed my hand, as not to mess up my makeup, and left the room.

I quickly changed out of my binder and into the bra I had brought with me. Once I was done Lance came back in and helped me with the rest of the costume. He also changed into his costume and did a bit of makeup on himself.

"Ready?" He asked. I smiled and nodded.

"Ready."

<><><><>

You could hear the noises of the party from nearly a mile away. We pulled up to Allura's house and parked.

"I just hope nobody will recognize me," I said. Lance squeezed my hand.

"They won't. Just make your voice a little more feminine." He said, "Plus out of all of us Allura is the most observant and she's the biggest drinker of the group."

"There's going to be alcohol!?" I asked.

"Yeah. It's a High school party. I'm sure the punch has been spiked by nearly everyone at this point." He said.

"But the party started like 2 minutes ago," I said.

"There's like 200 people in there already." He said. I shrugged.

"Good point. Let's just go find the others." I said. He nodded and we walked inside.

We pushed our way through the crowd until we found Matt and Pidge.  
Pidge was dressed in her normal clothes but she had a pair of devil horns on her head. Matt was what looked like Anakin Skywalker. But it could have been his normal clothes. You never really know with Matt.

"Hey, Lance. Your date isn't fake!" Pidge said. Lance rolled his eyes.

"Duh! You think I would brag all week about a fake date?" He asked.

Without hesitating, Pidge said, "Yep."

Lance glared at her.

"Where's everyone else?" Lance asked.

"Shiro went to get some pizza from the kitchen, Allura is on the dance floor, and Hunk and Coran are also in the kitchen," Matt said.

We all walked to the Kitchen, grabbing Allura on our way there. It was hard to make our ways through the crowds but we managed. Lance and I's hands were glued together.

"Hey, Lance! Who's the girl?" Hunk asked as we walked in the slightly less crowded kitchen. He was wearing a Scooby Doo costume.

Allura was dressed in an Elsa costume. After losing a dare to Lance she ended up having to wear it, despite not liking Frozen at all. Coran was dressed as Anna.

Shiro walked in as well, wearing a simple vampire costume.

"Hey Lance, you made it. This must be that girl you were talking about." He said. I shook his hand.

"This is Kathy. She goes to high school with my cousin Leo." Lance said, "We met at the makeup store."

Allura, who clearly had a drink or two started laughing, "Where you work."

"Yes, Allura. I work at the makeup store. We all made fun of me about that already." Lance said.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your friends Lance," I asked.

"Oh right! This is Shiro, Hunk, Allura, Matt, Pidge, and Coran." Lance said, pointing to each of them as he got to their names.

"Nice to meet you all," I said, trying to make my voice a bit higher.

"You know. With your dark purplish eyes and black hair you look like a friend of mine." Matt said.

"Oh? These are actually colored lenses. My real eyes are...brown." I said.

"Where did you get them. They look really convincing." Allura asked.

"Oh, you know....online," I said awkwardly.

"They look AMMMMMAAAZING! If I cut my hair and dyed it I could be Keeeeeith!" She said.

"Anyways, Me and Kathy are going to Dance," Lance said.

"It's Kathy and I," Pidge said as we walked to the dance floor.

"You know I can't dance," I said.

"Don't worry. That's why I'm here." He said.

Most of the night consisted of Lance and I dancing and not worrying about kissing each other in public. I saw several kids from school. Including Al.

He didn't recognize me. Or I don't think he did. He gave Lance and I a weird look and left the dance floor.

<><><><>

"Hey, my head hurts I'm going to step outside for a bit," I said.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Lance asked.

"No. Rhianna's playing. Go dance." I said. He smiled and nodded.

I walked out to the back and stepped out onto the porch. There was only one other person out there.

"Hey, Matt," I said.

"Oh hi...Kathy right? Lance's current... partner." He said.

"Yeah..." I said, remembering that I wasn't Keith.

"Too many people?" Matt asked.

"Holy shit. Are Allura's parties always like this?" I asked. Matt laughed.

"Pretty much. You should see the end of the year party. Have you ever seen Grown Ups 2?" Matt asked.

"Yeah."

"It's like that party but 10 times the amount of people. And EVERYONE is drunk or high." Matt said.

"Wow. I can't believe nobody had gotten arrested." I said.

"Oh, they have. Last Valentine's day. Lance managed to get himself out of jail by flirting with the officer." Matt said, laughing a little.

"She must have been pretty stupid to fall for it," I said.

"Actually, it was Shiro's dad. And he didn't fall for the flirting, he just realized it was Lance after that and he let Lance go." Matt said.

"Huh, never knew dad was a police officer," I whispered. Matt looked at me.

"What?" He asked.

"Um....n-nothing," I said. He leaned closer to me and looked at me. Then his eyes widened.

"Keith?" He asked. Well, I guess the cats out of the bag. 

"Yeah. It's me." I said.

"Are you...trans?" He asked.

"Yeah. But you have to promise not to tell anyone! Even Shiro!" I said.

"Does Lance know?" He asked. I shook my head.

"No. And he's not going to," I said.

"So he thinks your Kathy then," Matt said.

"Technically I am Kathy. But I figured that since he's been pretty lonely lately I'd come to the party with him so he didn't get all upset." I lied.

"Wow. That's uncharacteristically sweet of you Keith. But you're ok with like, kissing Lance and stuff? How long are you going to do this?" He asked.

"Well, kissing Lance isn't a problem as I'm sure Pidge already told you and I figured I would break up over messenger tomorrow. I mean, we're not dating or anything." I said.

"Pidge told me what?" He asked.

"That I like Lance," I said.

"She didn't tell me." He said, "Although I'm not surprised."

"I'm surprised she kept her mouth shut. Listen, if you have to tell Shiro anything, just tell him that. But please do not tell him I'm Trans. I'll tell everyone eventually." I said. Matt nodded.

"I went through the same thing with Pidge for awhile. I won't tell anyone. Just, don't hurt Lance too much Kathy. He tends to be...over dramatic about his breakups." Matt said and he walked back into the house.


	32. Chapter 32

Lance

It was a while after Thanksgiving. Matt had kept his promise not to tell anyone about Keith. And yes, Keith told me about that.

Honestly, I was excited to have my first Christmas with Keith. Christmas was a good time of the year. Nothing bad has happened on Christmas yet.

It was currently three weeks after Thanksgiving and Keith and I were helping Bianca with the kids while she and Javi decorated the apartment.

"I personally think we should have the tree over by the recliner," I said.

"I think it looked better by the couch," Keith said. He looked adorably cute in the Santa hat we dug out of the Christmas decorations. He also had a black sweater and dark skinny jeans on. He had taped a picture of me to the front of his shirt saying it was his "ugly sweater".

"You always have to disagree with me don't you," I said. Keith rolled his eyes.

"I'm just saying that if it's next to the recliner then it will block the kitchen from the TV," I said.

"Yeah, but if it's by the couch I can't see it from the bathroom if the doors open," I said.

"Um...when are you going to pee with the door open here?" Keith asked.

"Oh, wouldn't you like to know?" I said. He rolled his eyes.

"Jesus, you guys argue like an old married couple," Bianca said.

"Maybe someday," I said, winking at Keith. He simply rolled his eyes again.

"In your dreams." He said.

"You know it," I said. He threw his hands up in the air.

"I give up. B, where's your alcohol?" He asked, heading into the kitchen.

"I have to keep it hidden. Eli gets into it sometimes." Bianca said.

"Or sometimes Javi gets into it," I commented. Javi gave me a look.

"Cállate. Como si estuvieras mejor, primo!" He said.

"Sí, pero soy más viejo que tú." I said.

"Sólo dos meses!" He snapped.

"Además, puedo manejar el alcohol. No puedes." I said.

"Puedo manejar el alcohol!" He said.

"Ok, what's going on. I'm only in my first year of Spanish." Keith asked Bianca. She laughed.

"They're arguing over who can handle alcohol better," Bianca said.

"Lance can't handle alcohol at all. He's a lovey, idiot drunk. He tried to make out with Shiro once." Keith said.

"I'm not surprised. He almost went out with Shiro once." Bianca said.

"What?" Keith asked.

At that moment I stopped arguing with Javi.

"Um...lets change the subject shall we?" I said to Bianca and Keith.

"You tried to date Shiro!?" He asked.

"Yeah, maybe." I said quickly, "Now let's ask her about the thing we came to talk about."

Keith gave me a 'This is not over' look. Before changing the subject.

"So. I wanted to ask you something that Louise mentioned just before Halloween." Keith said.

"Ok," Bianca said.

"So...um..." He started. Then he glanced at me with a 'Can you help me out' look.

"Keith is trans. And when we mentioned this to Louise she asked Keith if he was Kathy Kogane because she knew his last name. Then she told us to ask you." I explained. Bianca's eyes widened.

"Oh. I....um...well...you know how my ex-boyfriend?" She started.

"Which one?" I asked. She rolled her eyes.

"Eli and Benji's dad, idiot." She said.

"Oh. Yeah, I totally knew you were talking about him." I said.

"You know how he and a friend were arrested and died in a car crash," Bianca said.

"Yeah," I said.

"They were arrested for murder and damage of property. 5 year ago." Bianca said. Keith's eyes widened.

"They were the ones-" He started but couldn't finish.

"I'm sorry Keith," Bianca said, she put a hand on his shoulder.

"It's ok. They're gone." He said.

"Are you sure your ok Keith?" I asked. He nodded.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Let's finish putting up the tree." He said. He stood up and set it by the couch.

I was about to say something but Keith gave me an 'I don't want to talk about it' look, so I let it go.

"Where are the kids? I thought the point of us coming over was to watch them." I said.

"Callie offered to babysit instead. Although I do need someone to pick them up from her place." Bianca said.

"We can do that. She lives pretty close to this restaurant I wanted to take Keith to. We can pick them up after lunch. Plus I can introduce Keith to Callie, Leo, and everyone else over there." I said.

Callie McClain was one of my many cousins. She was Louise's youngest sibling, being only 15. She had three older siblings, Leo, who was 16, and Isabella and Lousie who were identical twins, at 22. Their parents, Jeremiah and Sky, were both nice people who owned an auto body shop.

We continued decorating the living room for another hour before we left for lunch.

"No te diviertas demasiado," Bianca called. I shot her a look before leaving.

"What did she say?" Keith asked. I waved the question off and led him to the car.

"I'm glad we took the car today." He said.

"Yeah. Can't exactly fit the twins on your bike. Not safely anyways." I said. He smiled slightly.

"So what were you saying about lunch?" He asked as I pulled out of Bianca's driveway.

"Yeah. My treat." I said, "It's this great burger place that serves the BEST fries. But I'll only take you if you let me pay for once."

"I do like fries." He mumbled. I laughed.

"Is that a yes?" I asked.

"Yeah, I guess. But next time we get food I'm paying." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"You should really let me spoil you sometimes," I said.

"You barely made enough for rent last month. And this month is Christmas. Your present to me is letting me pay all dinners, take out, and gas." He said.

"I never agreed to these terms," I complained.

"It's in the fine print of being my boyfriend." He teased. I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever," I said. Keith laughed and put on our CD.

<><><><>

"Man, you were right. Those were some amazing fries." Keith said as we pulled out of McDonald's.

"Yeah. And not too pricey. I told you I could pay for it." I said. Keith rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I guess your right. I just wish the ice cream machine wasn't broken." He said. We both laughed.

"So where do your cousins live?" He asked.

"Which cousins?" I asked. He rolled his eyes and punch me.

"You're dumb." He said.

"That's why you love me," I said.

"Seriously, where do they live?" He asked.

"They have an auto body shop in town-ish. They live right behind it." I said.

"What are they like?" He asked.

"Callie is going through a...phase right now....sort of like Javi but she doesn't look like a vampire. Leo is nice. He is usually in the shop when he's not at school. And since we're on winter break that's probably where he'll be. There's a chance he might be with his girlfriend but she's usually busy. As for Tio and Tia, Tio is always in the shop and Tia usually does the taxes and stuff for it so she's in her office. We probably won't see them too much." I explained.

"So Callie is going through a phase?" He asked.

"Yeah, like an emo thing. But emo stuff like that usually only last for a year or so." I said. I glanced at him.

"Or in your case, all of middle school and high school," I said.

"Shut up or I'll hit you again." He said. I laughed.

"We're here," I said, as we pulled up to the auto body shop.

"Isn't the house behind here?" He asked.

"Yeah, but you have to go through the shop to get to it," I said. He nodded and we got out of the car. As soon as we got out of the car a large, black and white pit bull came running out and jumped around us, barking excitedly.

"Woah! Down princess! Keith is a friend." I said.

"They named their pit bull princess?" Keith asked.

"She's super sweet. She's just curious around strangers. I remember I brought Lotor out here once and she peed on his leg." I laughed.

"That doesn't reassure me," Keith said. I laughed again. 

"I know," I said. I grabbed his hand and led him into the shop.

"Leo! You in here!" I called.

"Lance? Did that piece of trash you call a car break down again?" Leo called back.

"I told you it was trash," Keith commented.

Leo walked out from behind a toolbox.

"Hey primo, this that guy you keep talking about?" Leo asked.

"Yeah. And don't insult my car." I said, "Keith this is my cousin Leo, Leo this is my boyfriend Keith."

They shook hands.

"Nice to meet you, Keith," Leo said.

"Likewise."

"Callie in the house?" I asked.

"I'm guessing B tricked you into getting her kids again," Leo said.

"You know B," I said. He laughed.

"Yeah. They're in the back." He said. I nodded and we walked back to the house.

I led Keith through the kitchen and to the backyard, where Callie was watching the kids play in the yard.

Callie looked the same as she did the last time I saw her. Dark clothes and long, bright purple hair.

"Hey, Cal," I said.

"Don't call me that." She said, without looking up from her phone.

"You're not even going to give your favorite cousin a hug," I said.

"Actually Sophie was my favorite cousin, thanks for bringing it up." She said, still glued to her phone. I rolled my eyes. She was always so dramatic.

"Keith, this is my emo cousin Callie. Callie, this is my emo boyfriend Keith. He's super angsty, and loves MCR and sleeping with sirens and all that crap. He uses extensive amounts of eyeliner and shops at hot topic." I said. Callie looked up.

"You mentioned hot topic?" She said.

"Hi, I'm Keith. Lance's boyfriend." Keith said.

"I'm Callie. And I guess I'm that morons cousin." Callie said. She shook his hand.

"You got Snapchat?" She asked. Keith glanced at me. I was just as shocked as him. She hardly talked to me.

"Yeah...I guess." He said.

"Sweet. Add me." She held out her phone to him.

"So...how long have you been dating?" She asked.

"Abou-" I started to say.

"I didn't ask you."

"Since October." Keith said, looking over at me with a 'Why is she talking to me so much' look. I shrugged.

"How long are you staying here?" She asked.

"We're just getting the kids. Also, he's 18 Callie and taken. Just because there aren't any 15-year-old emo boys at your school doesn't mean you have to flirt with the first emo guy you meet." I said. She rolled her eyes.

"Whatever." She said, before going back to her phone.

At that moment Eli and Benji realized we were here.

"Tio Lance!" They said, before running and hugging Keith and I's legs.

"Hey, guys. We're here to pick you guys up and take you home." I said.

"I don't want to go home," Eli said.

"But what if I told you Santa came in and decorated the apartment while you were gone," I said. The two boys gasped. Callie rolled her eyes.

"For real! Santa dec-dec-decowated!" Benji said.

"He sure did. Now come on. Maybe if we get back in time we can see the reindeer." I said. They raced each other back to the car.

"Bye Callie," I said.

"Bye." She said without looking up. I rolled my eyes and Keith and I left.

We said goodbye to Leo on our way out.

<><><><>

Once we got done dropping the twins off I dropped Keith off at his place.

"Byeeee Keeeeeef." I said. He rolled his eyes and kissed my forehead.

"When am I seeing you again?" He asked.

"Well, I have work until after Christmas so like the 28th maybe, " I said, "Although that's Friday, the sleepover. It's at Hunks this time. I also have New Year's Eve and day off. We're having a small party at my place on New Year's Eve. There's going to be alcohol."

"I'm not going to see you on Christmas?" He asked with a frown.

"Well, unless you don't want me to make rent," I said. He rolled his eyes and kissed my cheek.

"See you then." He said. I smiled and pulled out of his driveway.


	33. Chapter 33

Keith

Christmas at the Shiroganes was definitely different than Christmas with my other families. Not all of my families were bad. I even liked a couple of them but Christmas the most I usually got was clothes, school supplies, or a something that was for the whole family. One year a family I had got me a trampoline just so I would put it together. And after that, it suddenly wasn't just my trampoline anymore. It was the "Family Trampoline". But that wasn't that bad. It was still a trampoline after all.

The house was decorated nicely, with lights all over the living room. And stockings hung on the wall because they didn't have a fireplace. Shiro and I wore matching Santa hats. Mae also bought us holiday PJs. Normally I wouldn't wear PJs but they were fuzzy pants with cute little hippos on it with Santa hats. Mae really did know me well. Shiro had ones with little penguins on them. We ended up taking several pictures of us in our PJs and putting them on our Snapchats, which got positive feedback from our friends and jokes and criticism from Pidge.

Shiro had gotten me an iTunes card and new headphones. I also got several other things from our parents but it didn't matter. It was nice to have a Christmas with people that really cared about me. Unfortunately, Matt had to stay with Pidge and their family. And Lance had to work. Matt and I had become closer since the Halloween party. We talked quite a bit when he came over with Shiro.

Everyone else had family things they had to do. Allura and Coran were out of town with family. Hunk got to meet his internet Girlfriend for the first time in person. And Lotor was busy.

I wanted to stop by and say hi to Lance at work but he was super busy and Bianca was picking him up afterward. Apparently, they had a tradition in the McClain Family for Christmas. They would all spend Christmas at their Abuela's house. But because her house was sold after she died they changed it to Bianca and Javi's parent's house because they had the biggest house in the family.

Plus, being with just Shiro's family was good enough.

We watched several old, cheesy Christmas movies like Elf, Frosty the snowman, and Santa Clause 3. Which, in my opinion, was the best Santa Clause movie mainly because Martin Short hits Tim Allen in the face with a shovel. Always makes me laugh.

<><><><>

The sleepover was as crazy as usual. The only difference between this one and other ones was that none of us had seen Lance since before Christmas so he was getting gifts from all of us. Pidge and Matt got him a new video game that he had been wanting for a while. Allura got him some new makeup stuff. Shiro got him hair care stuff and a new Shakira poster. Hunk got him some foodstuff.

"What did the mullet get me?" He asked. I handed him a large box.

"Here," I said.

He opened it and pulled out a white and blue motorcycle helmet. Identical to the one he got me, except his, had his own name on it and on the back it said,

Sexy Boi

And on the side, it said, LadyKiller. 

"I figured my old one wasn't that nice and you got me mine so I got you one to match," I said. He smiled.

"It's awesome! Thanks, Keith!" He said, giving me a half hug.

"Wow, I think that's the nicest thing you've done for him," Allura said.

"No way, you should have seen-" Matt started to say but I shot him a look.

"Oh wait, I'm thinking of someone else. Nevermind." Matt said quickly.    
Everyone seemed to buy it except Pidge and maybe Shiro.

"Ok. We're done with presents. Let's get games going." Lance said.

"Please tell me were not doing any more Mariokart," Shiro said.

"You only don't want to play it because you're bad at it," Pidge said. Shiro rolled his eyes.

"Hunk's Wii is broken anyways," Pidge said.

"Let me guess, you brought some game that's going to make us all die inside," Lance said.

"No. I brought Minecraft." Pidge said.  
There was a collective amount of groans and complaining from everyone.

"No. We stopped playing that in middle school." Lance said.

"Exactly. That's why it will be fun. Plus they added polar bears." Pidge said.

"Fine. But I'm only playing so I can get an army of dogs and kill you." Lance said.

"I haven't played since 7th grade but I guess I'll play too. I'm not that good though." I said.

"I guess I'll join." Hunk said.

"I guess that's all we can have since there are only four people per console, so I can't play. Bummer." Shiro said.

"It's ok. Hunk has another Xbox." Pidge said. Shiro glared at her.

"Of course he does." He mumbled.

"So are we just going to do survival or what?" Matt asked.

"No, everyone has 10 minutes to get supplies then it's deathmatch. One life, once you die after the ten minutes you're out." Pidge said.

<><><><>  
Cut to the end of the game  
<><><><>

"Keith! You're a liar!" Lance yelled.

"Yeah. 'I'm not very good' my ass. I've never lost so quickly before!" Pidge said.

"Language Pidge," Shiro said. Pidge rolled her eyes.

"I thought it was fun," Allura said.

"Yeah, but you spent all your time in a boat trying to get as far from Keith as possible." Hunk said.

"Are we going to do another round?" I asked.

Everyone yelled, "NO!"

"Let's just put on the movies you brought," Matt said to Allura.

"I thought it was Lonce's turn to bring the movies." She said.

"For the millionth time. It's LANCE!" Lance yelled, "But actually it is my turn."

"I swear to god if you brought the bee movie I'm going to jump out the window," I said. He winked at me and pulled it out.

"Come on, you know you love this movie." He said.

"Well, guys. It was nice knowing you guys." I said, getting up and walking out of the room.

"I'm going to make sure he doesn't jump off the roof." I heard Lance say as I left.

I ended up walking to the bathroom. Lance not too far behind me.

"Please don't hate me, babe." He said.

"You know I was joking right?" I asked him.

"Yeah. But I figured if I followed you I could actually get to love on you without worrying about everyone else." He said.

"Did you get me a Christmas present?" I asked.

"Yeah. My constant love and affection." He said, kissing my cheek multiple times.

"Hmm, not good enough," I said. He raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I could always give you a little more than just kisses." He suggested, wiggling his eyebrows. My face went red. I punched him.

"Stop! Someone could hear you." I said, covering my face from embarrassment.

"Aw, don't cover your face babe. I was just joking." He said.

"No." I said, "You never get to see my face again."

"Come on babe. I was just joking around. Look at me please." He complained. He pulled my hands away from my face.

"You look cute when you're embarrassed." He said. He kissed my forehead. I was about to say something when I heard,

"Um-I was coming to see if you died...I'll just go back to the others."

We both looked at the door and say Pidge looking at us strangely.

No! Wait Pidge!" Lance said. He grabbed her and pulled her into the bathroom with us.

"What's going on here? You two weren't planning on fucking in Hunks bathroom were you?" She asked.

"No. Please let us explain." Lance said. I was too embarrassed to say anything. How much did she hear?

"First of all, how much did you see?" He asked.

"Not much. Just you two kissing and stuff. Since when have you two been a couple?" Pidge asked.

"October," Lance said. Pidge gasped and jumped for the door. Lance stopped her.

"You can't tell ANYONE," I said quickly.

"Why?" She asked. 

"Because we're not ready to go public about it yet. But you have to promise you won't say a word. To anyone. Ever." Lance said. Pidge sighed.

"Fine. But you two better tell them soon. I hate keeping secrets." She said.

"No, you don't," Lance said. She smirked.

"I hate it when your right." She said. Then she sighed.

"I always thought you two would get together." She said.

"Of course you did," Lance said.

"Can you let me go now?" She asked. Lance let her go.

She left the bathroom.

"We should go out too. So we don't look suspicious." Lance said. I nodded and we followed Pidge.

"Don't worry, didn't jump out, I got him," Lance said. Shiro rolled his eyes.

"Let's just get movie night started before Keith actually jumps," Matt said.

"Just no meme movies," Shiro said.

"How about we just binge watch RWBY?" Pidge asked.

"No one watches that show except you and Lonce." Allura said.

"Hey! I watch it too!" Matt complained.

"Yeah. And I kinda used to watch it." I whispered.

"Wait...you watch it too!?" Lance asked.

"Not much anymore." I said, "For a while at my last family."

"When did you stop watching?" Pidge asked.

"Just after season three," I said.

"What!?" Pidge, Matt, and Lance all exclaimed at the same time.

"Oh my god, but season four is when it gets good! And season five is amazing! It practically confirms some amazing ships! And there's-" Lance started to ramble but Pidge cut him off.

"Don't spoil it for him!" Pidge said.

"Ok. We're watching it. We'll start at season 1 So you guys aren't confused." Matt said.

"I don't know...I think we should all agree on something..." Shiro started to say.

"Come on, there's gay in it! You should love it!" Pidge said. Shiro glared at her.

"We're watching it," Lance said. He pulled up YouTube.

We spent the next 7 hours binge-watching the entire series. Lance had fallen asleep mid-season 4. By the end of season 4, only Pidge and I were awake.  We both stayed up to finish the last season. 

"So you and Lance huh?" She said, after confirming everyone was asleep.

I looked around at everyone, making sure they were asleep. She rolled her eyes and motioned for me to follow her into the kitchen.

"So have you guys fucked yet or what?" She asked.

I shot her a look. She rolled her eyes.

"How did it happen?" She asked. 

"I don't know, it's complicated. After the whole Al thing at the mall...something happened...and I ended up staying the night at his place. In his bed...with him. And then for a while, nothing happened. We didn't get together until the night of his first swim practice." I said.

"Something happened?" She asked.

"Nothing like that. Just complicated stuff that I'd rather not get into. Not even Lance knows all of it." I said.

"And the Halloween thing?" Pidge asked. I looked at her, eyes wide.

"What Halloween thing?" I asked quickly. Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Do you really think I wouldn't recognize you in the witch costume? I have to admit, Lance does an amazing job at makeup, but seriously, this is me were talking about. Do you really think I didn't know you were trans?" She asked.

"Did Matt tell you?" I asked. She looked at me confused.

"Matt knows?" She asked.

"Only about the trans thing. He doesn't know I'm dating Lance." I said.

"And Allura is the only one who knows you like Lance," Pidge stated.

"I think Shiro is suspicious but yeah, Allura's the only one who knows," I said.

"Wow. I feel bad. Hunk is in the dark completely." Pidge said.

"So is Coran," I said.

"When are you going to tell everyone?" She asked.

"I...I don't know yet. It might be awhile." I said, "I mean, at first I was worried that my new family wouldn't accept me, then Shiro's mom found out and she accepted me. So does his dad. Then I was worried that you guys wouldn't accept me. But then you and Matt both are okay with it. I don't know why I'm so hesitant to share it. I'm just worried that it might be like the last time I told someone..."

"What happened the last time?" Pidge asked. I hesitated. I didn't have real friends before I moved in with Shiro's family, but no one had ever heard about what happened when I came out as trans to someone for the first time.

"Um...Let's just say they really didn't like me after that." I said.

Pidge yawned.

"As much as I want to press you for information about this story, I need some sleep. I'll find out some other day." She said before heading back into the living room. I followed her, grabbed a pillow and fell asleep on the floor.


	34. Chapter 34

Keith

Winter break went by too fast. Before I knew it I was back in school. Now that I didn't really have to deal with bullies as much, it was definitely easier, but it was still school.

Lance had promised me that any day he didn't have an important practice or work he would come over and help me with my Spanish homework. And I would help him with his Math.

"Why don't we just go to my house?" Lance asked as we pulled up to my house after school.

"Because we're always at your house. Shiro has practice tonight and our parents won't be home until late. Not that they would mind you being here." I said.

"I can't believe I convinced Shiro I could miss a day of practice every week," Lance said.

"He probably thought you had work. I mean, he knows you live by yourself." I said as we walked through the front door.

"I don't live by myself. I have the kids." Lance said.

"Sophia and Toby don't count," I said.

"They totally count!" He complained. We walked up the stairs to my room.

"They don't pay the bills, they don't count." I countered, "Now help me with my homework."

<><><><>

We had spent so much time on my Spanish homework that we lost track of time.

"I need a break. My head hurts!" Lance whined.

"We haven't even started your homework yet," I said.

"I have a week to do it. We can work on it this weekend." He said.

"Fine," I said. I closed my Spanish packet.

Lance leaned in and kissed my cheek.

"Thank you, babe." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Call me that again, and I won't ever help you with your math." I threatened.

"What am I supposed to call you then?" He asked.

"I don't know, maybe Keith?" I suggested.

"But I like pet names. Baby sounds stupid, I already call Shiro Daddy,  honey makes us sound like an old gay married couple, and just saying boyfriend is boring." Lance complained.

"Then at least use something that isn't babe. And please, for the love of memes, don't ever call me daddy." I said.

"I already told you, that's what I call Shiro." He said. I rolled my eyes.

"Whatever," I mumbled.

"I won't use pet names if I can still call you Keef." He said.

"Fine," I said. He kissed my forehead this time.

"Thank you, Keef." He said, "Now shut up and kiss me. Shiro will be home in like ten minutes."

I nodded and kissed him.

"You kiss too timid. It's like your afraid your going to break me or something." Lance complained. I glared at him.

"I'll show you timid," I said, then I practically tackled him, both of us falling onto the bed, lips interlocked in a furious make-out session.

"Hey, Keith are you........home?" I heard from behind us. I looked back instantly and saw a very confused Shiro standing in the doorway, clearly not expecting to walk in on me making out with someone, let alone Lance.

"I'm just going to go to my room now...Keith why don't you join me. I...um...I need to talk to you..." Shiro said, not looking at Lance and I.

I looked at Lance.

"Just go home. I'll call you tonight." I said quietly. He nodded and left the room.

Once he was gone Shiro turned on me.

"Um, what the fuck was that? Are you seriously sleeping around with Lance!? Everyone knows he's a big flirt. He's never in a relationship for more than a week. With an exception of Lotor." Shiro said. What he said caught me off guard. I expected several reactions but a lecture wasn't exactly one of them.

"And in our house!? What if mom walked in while you two were going at it?" He asked.

"Like your one to talk. You and Matt fuck here all the time." I said.

"First of all, we've only done it twice. Both times we knew nobody would be home for hours." He said.

"Second of all, Matt is my boyfriend. I'm not just sleeping around." He added.

"And! I'm not-"

"Holy fuck Shiro would you let me talk for a second!" I said, cutting him off. He took a deep breath.

"Fine. Go ahead." He said calmly.

"Firstly, Lance and I aren't fucking. We haven't even seen each other naked yet. Secondly, we've been dating since October, and it's what, January now? And Finally, don't call my boyfriend a slut." I said. He stared at me for a few seconds.

"I...I'm sorry. I should have assumed. I didn't know." He said, "I just thought because it was Lance, it was probably a one-week thing or something."

"It's...well I mean, your right, you didn't know, so it's okay. At least you apologized. I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. Or at least pay attention to when you got home so you didn't have to walk in on that." I said. He laughed nervously.

"It's fine. I've seen worse when it comes to Lance. I'm glad you're happy with him." He said, he turned to leave the room. I smiled slightly, then frowned.

"There's something else I need to tell you about Shiro," I said. He turned around.

"Yeah?"

"I...You know how I told everyone when my parents died I also lost my sister." I started, taking a deep breath.

"Yeah." He said, slightly confused.

"Well...I kinda sorta lied about that part just a little bit." I said. He looked even more confused but I continued.

"Um...I...I'm Trans," I said slowly. I didn't look at him for a while.

Finally, I gather the courage to look at him. His face was puzzled. Then he smiled. A real smile. I let the breath I had been unknowingly holding in out.

He walked over to my bed and sat down next to me.

"Its okay Keith, you know I will always support you no matter what. We're brothers. I mean, if you wanted to sleep around with Lance, even if I think it's a bad idea, I'd still support you." He said. He gave me a side hug.

"Thanks, Shiro," I said.

"Although I have to ask, does Lance know? Because if your dating you should really be honest with him." Shiro said. I laughed.

"Yeah. He was the first one to figure it out. Well aside from Al anyways. Pidge knows too, about the trans thing and the dating thing. Mom and Dad know I'm trans. And so does Matt. But he doesn't know I'm dating Lance, neither do our parents." I said.

"Matt knows?" Shiro asked.

"He recognized me at Halloween," I said.

"Wait a minute...you were Lance's date!? You were Kathy!?" He asked. I nodded.

"Technically I still am Kathy because that's my biological name, but I go by Keith since...well you know," I said.

"I'm proud of you Keith. It takes a lot to come out like that. And you didn't even break down crying or anything." Shiro said.

"Well, when Lance found out I did. I literally ran away." I said. We both laughed.

"When do you plan on telling the others?" Shiro asked.

"Soon, I hope. Lotor knows about Lance and I. He might know I'm trans but I'm not sure." I said.

"Well, we all support you. Even Lotor. But if you need time, I understand." Shiro said.

"Thanks, Shiro. Now I'm going to call Lance, he's probably freaking out." I said. Shiro laughed and left the room.

"Hey."

"Hey, is everything okay with Shiro?" 

"Yeah. I told him everything."

"Everything?" 

"Yep. That's three people now. Or I guess two since Matt only knows I'm trans."

"Who's the other person?" 

"Oh! I forgot to tell you during the new years sleepover Pidge found out about the trans thing. Although according to her she always knew."

"Better Pidge than Allura. If Allura found out, the whole school would know. Well...unless you tell her to keep it a secret anyway." 

*TEXT FROM: UNKNOWN*

Keith, it's Jason...we need to talk. 

"Lance, I have to go."

I quickly hung up and stared at the message.

Why now?


	35. Chapter 35

Keith  
2 years ago  
3rd Person

"Keith, come on, we've been dating for two weeks and I haven't even seen you shirtless yet." 

A boy, about 16, stood with another boy the same age. 

One had long dark black hair, grayish-purple looking eyes, and light skin, that looked like it hadn't seen sunlight in years. He was short and wore dark clothing despite it being summer. 

The other was taller. He had short brownish red hair and a surfers tan. He stood shirtless in a pair of swimming trunks. 

"Jason. I told you I'm just...self conscious. I always swim with my shirt on." Keith said. 

"Yeah, but I wanted to try something. And you sort of need to not have a shirt for it." Jason said. 

"What could you possibly want to do that doesn't require a shirt?" Keith asked, rolling his eyes. 

"Well, I'd prefer if we had no clothes but you won't take your socks off in front of me, so I doubt you'd take your pants off," Jason said. 

"Jason, we're only sixteen. We can't be doing stuff like that." Keith said. 

"So, all the other kids do it. Plus, were both dudes. It's not like either of us will get pregnant." Jason said. Keith shifted from foot to foot nervously. 

"I'm just not ready Jason. You've been my friend for a long time. And you know I trust you but...this is different." Keith said slowly. Jason frowned but nodded. 

"Its okay Keith, I understand. Maybe in a couple months or so. But can't I at least swim shirtless with my boyfriend?" Jason asked. 

"I...um...um..." Keith stuttered. 

"Listen to Keith. I know about the scars. I'm not going to judge you." Jason said. 

"Scars?" Keith asked confused. 

"You don't have to pretend Keith. I always sort of figured you have cuts because of the clothing you wear and stuff." Jason said, sitting at the edge if the pool. 

"Cuts? Wait a minute? Are you saying because I dress emo that I cut myself?" Keith asked. 

"Well yeah, I mean, your a walking emo stereotype. You have the dark hair, pale skin, dark eyes, natural scowl. You shop at Hot Topic and Spencer's. You wear eyeliner all the time. And you always wear layers. Even when it's hot out." Jason said. 

"What?" 

"Plus, you have a depressing, dark as fuck past. And when you aren't with me your alone in your room. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised if the whole school knew." Jason said. 

"I don't cut Jason. I haven't since I was fourteen. I told you that a long time ago." Keith said. 

"I just assumed you lied." Jason admitted, "I'm sorry." 

"You haven't told anyone that I cut, have you?" Keith asked. 

"Of course not." Jason said, "But if that's not why your nervous to take your shirt of then what is it?" 

"It's....complicated," Keith said slowly. 

"Everyone knows your scrawny Keith. I don't care if you don't have a 'Sexy body' or whatever." Jason said. 

Keith shook his head. 

"That's...that's not it either," Keith said. 

"Well spit it out then," Jason said, starting to get irritated. He had been patient with Keith up until now, but now he wanted answers. 

"Well...It's hard to explain..." Keith started. 

"I can trust you, right?" Keith asked Jason. 

"Of course you can. You know that I'm your best friend." Jason said. Keith took a deep breath. 

"And you won't...judge me?" Keith asked. 

"I already told you I wouldn't judge you," Jason said impatiently. 

"Well. I'm sort of...well, not sort of...I just...I'm Transgender." Keith said. He watched Jason's face for a reaction. 

"What!?" Jason asked. 

"I...I was born a girl. And I mean biologically I still am a girl I just identify as a guy." Keith said slowly. 

"Are you fucking serious?" Jason asked. Keith flinched. 

"What?" 

"Are you fucking joking me!? You're a girl? Prove it!" Jason spat. 

"I..." Keith stuttered. He quickly flashed his binder. 

"Don't be mad," Keith said quietly. 

"Don't be mad!? Why should I be mad!? Is it because my fucking so-called 'boyfriend' has been lying to me since we met!?" Jason said angrily. 

"But...But I thought you said you were Pan..." Keith said. 

"Yeah. But not for transboys. If a guy wants to look like a chick so be it. But at least they still have a dick!" Jason said. 

"You said you wanted to be top though, what difference does it make?" Keith asked. 

Jason stood up. 

"Get out!" He said, rough shoving Keith in the direction of the door. 

"What?" Keith asked, his eyes starting to water. 

"I said get out you fucking transboy bitch!" Jason said. 

Tears started to go down Keith's face. 

"But, you said you wouldn't judge me..." He said. 

"Well, I wasn't expecting my boyfriend to tell me he has a fucking pussy." Jason said, "If you ever fucking talk to me again I'm going to fucking kill you." 

Keith took one last look at one of the few people he actually considered a friend before running away, trying to hold back the tears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh god, that was so hard for me to write. I absolutely hate writing homophobic/transphobic stuff but it is necessary for the story. 
> 
> If anyone treats you like that please tell someone because that isn't ok. You should never be judged based on your sexuality, gender, race, religion, etc. 
> 
> Normally I'd say I hope you liked the chapter but I honestly hated it. So I hope you hated the chapter but understand that it is important for the story so please don't attack me for transphobia. 
> 
> Also no offense to anyone named Jason. When I name asshole characters like Jason and Al I don't think about who might be offended by it I just think: "I need a name. This is the only thing I can think of" 
> 
> So yeah. I swear I'm not targeting anyone. And it isn't a reference to PJO. It's just a name. 
> 
> Anyways. Hope you absolutely despised the chapter as I have. Enjoy the next one.


	36. Chapter 36

*TEXT FROM: UNKNOWN* 

Keith, it's Jason...we need to talk

Why now!? Why couldn't he have texted me, I don't know, NEVER. 

Me: No. 

Jason: Please. It's important. I wanted to apologize

Me: No. 

Jason: I was young and stupid and confused. I swear. Just give me a second chance. 

Me: No. 

Jason: Please Keith. Everyone makes mistakes. At least let me explain in person. You can ignore me and hate me after but just hear me out this once. For old times sakes. I promise I won't bug you after if you want. 

Me: Where?

Jason: What?

Me: Where do you want to meet?

Jason: Wait, you're actually going to meet me?

Me: Only so you'll shut up. 

Jason: Can we meet at the old coffee shop near the orphanage?

Me: Sure, what time?

Jason: 7:30 pm? 

Me: Make it 8. 

Jason: See you then

After texting Jason I imminently called Lance back.

"Hey, what happened?" 

"It's a long story. I need you to come with me to meet someone from my past. I don't want to go alone."

"Ok, when do we leave?" 

"I'm leaving the house now. We're taking your car."

"Drive safe. I'll see you when you get here." 

I hung up and grabbed the keys to my bike.

<><><><>

"So...who are we meeting?" Lance asked.

We had been driving for about twenty minutes of silence. Since Lance didn't know the way I was driving.

"He was an old friend of mine that I knew from my two families ago." I started, "We also dated for about two weeks."

"Anything else I should know?" He asked.

"He was the first person I openly told I was trans and...it didn't go too well," I said.

"Then why are you meeting with him?" He asked.

"Because he said he wanted to apologize and that if I met with him he wouldn't bother me again," I said.

"Why didn't you just block him?" Lance asked.

"I don't know. I guess I just needed closure or something." I said.

"I understand." Lance said, "So, what should I expect when I see him? Is he big? Can I take him?"

I smiled slightly.

"He was just a little bigger than me, last time I saw him anyways. Although he did a lot of sports, so he's probably pretty fit. I'm not sure though. I haven't seen him since I was 16." I said.

"Is he better looking than me?" Lance asked. I rolled my eyes.

"You can answer that for yourself when you see him," I said. Lance frowned.

"That isn't really an answer." He said. I shrugged.

"As I said, I haven't seen him in a while. A lot can change in two years." I said. Lance nodded and turned on the radio.

<><><><>

I parked across the street from the coffee shop.

Looking at it, it didn't look too different from what I was used to. Same beige building. Same tables out front. The interior looked the same, but my vision into the building was limited.

I took a deep breath.

"I...I think I'm ready." I said finally. Lance nodded.

We got out of the car and walked across the street into the shop.

It looked exactly the same as it had the last time I was here. Tables on the left, a livingroom-like are on the right.

Not many people were in the shop. No sign of Jason. Of course, Lance and I were about 15 minutes early. I wanted to get there first.

Lance and I walked up the counter.

The woman behind the counter was the owner. A woman named Sheri Dawn. She was always nice to me. She had been a close friend of my mom's. As soon as I got to the counter she turned around and smiled.

"Keith! It's been a while!" She said, happily.

"Hey, Sheri Dawn. Has Jason came in yet?" I asked. She shook her head.

"Haven't seen him. But he does come in often. But enough about him." She said, "How have you been? And who's this?" She gestured to Lance.

"I'm okay. My new family is nice. I think this one might last." I said, "And this is my boyfriend Lance. Lance this is Sheri Dawn."

They shook hands.

"Its a pleasure to meet you," Lance said. Sheri Dawn smiled.

"You better be treating my boy alright." She said in a friendly manner.

They laughed.

"What will it be boys? I'm assuming you want your regular?" She asked me. I smiled and nodded. She looked at Lance.

"Just a caramel mocha," Lance said. She nodded, writing the drinks down.

I took out my wallet but Sheri Dawn waved it away.

"You know your money's no good here Kogane." She said.

"At least let me pay for one." I protested, but she shook her head.

"Consider it a late birthday present." She said. I sighed.

"Fine. But you can't stop me from tipping." I said.

"And I expected nothing less from you." She said jokingly.

She went to the back to make the drinks.

"I'm going to go to the bathroom, can you get us a table?" Lance asked. I nodded and went to sit down at my old table.

Years ago, Sheri Dawn had let me carve my name into it. I had been one of her most frequent customers and I always sat in the same spot. Eventually, she made sure the spot was always open after school got out.

I pulled my phone out and started scrolling through Instagram.

I heard the bell signaling the door had opened but I didn't look up.

A few minutes later Someone had taken the seat across from me. I knew it was him, but I wasn't ready to see his face yet.

Sheri Dawn had brought my drink out first and set it in front of me. I took a sip and looked up at him.

Jason hadn't changed much. He wore a green t-shirt and dark jeans. His hair was brushed to the side. He had grown a couple inches taller but other than that, he looked the same.

"Hey." He said.

"Hey."

"You look different." He said.

"And you haven't changed a bit," I said.

"I...I can't tell if that was an insult or a compliment." He said, laughing nervously. I shrugged but said nothing.

"So, what have you been up to?" He asked.

"Not much," I said. He glared at me.

"Look, I understand you're still mad about what happened. I swear I'm not like that anymore. I've grown up. A lot. And I know you probably still hate me but I promise you that I will never say anything like that again." He said.

"How did you even get my number?" I asked. He laughed.

"Liz gave it to me. Her aunt is your lawyer, remember?" He asked. I mumbled some unpleasant things about Liz. I would have to remember to talk to her about giving out my number.

"I just don't understand why you were so mad at me. I mean, you always said you were top anyways. What difference would it make?" I asked.

"I was just a dumb kid. I swear I've changed. And...I think I still like you...  
like more than a friend..." He said slowly.

Lance couldn't have picked a better time to walk out of the bathroom. He grabbed his coffee and sat next to me.   
Jason looked at him funny.

"Who's this?" He asked.

"My boyfriend. Who didn't freak out when he found out I am trans by the way." I said.

"Lance," Lance said, offering to shake Jason's hand. They shook hands awkwardly.

"I thought it was just going to be us," Jason said.

"Well, the last time I talked to you it wasn't what I'd call a pleasant chat, no offense, but I'd rather not be around you alone," I said.

"Listen, I'm not like that anymore. I swear." He said.

"I'm sorry you still have feelings for me. I really am. But I came here today to get closure. That's it." I said.

"I...It's Fine. I didn't expect you to like me anyway." Jason said, "I should go now. Thanks for meeting me."

He stood up and grabbed his drink.

"See you around Keith." He said, before leaving. After he was gone.

"Wow." Lance said, "He was hot."

I glared at Lance, punching him in the shoulder.

"What? I'm just being observant how did you not say yes to him?" He asked, "I mean, I'm cute but damn! I wouldn't be able to reject a face like that."

"Lance."

"What?"

"Shut up," I said. He laughed.

"He was like a hot liar or something," Lance said. I stared at him.

"You're not going to..." I said, "I think that's the first time you've not used a Beyonce reference when you had the chance to."

"What?"

"You said hot liar. You could have said Beautiful Liar." I said.

"How is that a Bey reference?" He asked.

"Oh my God! You've never heard the song Beautiful Liar?" I asked.

"No...why?" He asked confused.

"Why!? It's a Beyonce and Shakira duet! It's like, your two favorite people!" I said.

"Wait, what!?" He said, "No, your fucking with me. There's no way I've never heard that song before!"

"I'm dead serious. I even have it on my phone!" I said.

"Play it!" Lance demanded.

"Ok, first of all, don't yell at me. Second, we can't play music in the shop." I said. Lance rolled his eyes.

"Then let's go! Please? I need to hear this song." Lance said. I rolled my eyes.

"Let me say goodbye to Sheri Dawn first," I said. Lance frowned.

"Hurry hurry." He said. I handed him my phone.

"Just go, I'll meet you in the car," I said.

He grabbed my phone and ran out to the car.

"He left in a hurry." Sheri Dawn said from the counter. I laughed.

"He just found out his two favorite singers did a duet," I said. She smiled.

"Does this mean your leaving?" She asked.

"Yeah. I'll be back in a week or so though. My lawyer wants to meet with me about the deed to the house." I said.

"Your eighteenth birthday was months ago. How come you're just now meeting with her now?" She asked.

"I've been putting it off a lot lately. I was scared to go back again. I need to just get it over with."I said. She nodded.

"I'll be there if you need me. I can't say I know much about real estate, my husband would probably know more but I can be there for moral support." She said. I nodded.

"Now let me get around the counter so I can give you a hug before you leave. You better stop by next time your in town." She said. I smiled.

She came around the counter and pulled me into a hug. She was a major exception to the 'No physical contact with other people' rule I had.

"Oh! I heard about Kassidy. Congratulations." I said. She smiled.

"I know! Twins I can't believe it!" She said.

"You're a grandma!" I said.

"I'm not that old!" She complained. I laughed and waved at her as I headed for the door.

"Hey! 54 is the new 25!" She yelled back at me. 

"Bye, Grandma!" I teased. She crossed her arms and shook her head in a joking way.

I left the shop and went back the car and Lance and I drove home. The whole way him raving about his "New Favorite Song."


	37. Chapter 37

I was finally going to do it.

I was going to come out to everyone. About everything.

Would they accept me as Shiro, Pidge, and Lance did?

Although Matt knew I was trans. And Allura knew I had a crush on Lance.

I guess the only people who were completely out of it was Hunk and Coran.

It was almost a month after Shiro found out. And he's been bugging me nonstop about it.

"So when are you going to tell everyone?"

"How long have you been trans?"

"What's was your original name?"

"How serious are you and Lance?"

"Jesus Fucking Christ Shiro. Calm down. I'll answer questions later. Let's just get to Lance's house. Once everyone is there and after we sort of settle in I'll tell everyone everything."   
I said. He smiled.

"You've come along way, you know." He said, putting a hand on my shoulder.

"I have?" I asked. He laughed and nodded.

"Of course. When I first met you, you were temperamental, hot-headed, and you didn't like an contact with anyone. I think dating Lance has really opened you up." Shiro said. I rolled my eyes.

"Stop with the inspirational speech and let's go. I want to get there before everyone else does." I said, pushing his hand off my shoulder. He just laughed again.

"Aaand old Keith is back." He said, laughing. I pulled him to the car and we drove to Lance's house.

<><><><>

"Is anyone else here yet?" I asked Lance as Shiro and I walked into his apartment.

"Nope. But Pidge and Matt are on there way." Lance said. He kissed my cheek.

"Good," I said. I kissed him.

"Hey, just because I know about you two doesn't mean I want to see all the PDA," Shiro said.

"Would you rather us recreate the scene you first saw us do?" I asked. Shiro rolled his eyes.

"Nevermind." He mumbled.

I sat down on the couch, Lance put his head in my lap.

"How are the kids?" I asked.

"They miss you. But other than that they're fine." Lance said. I ran my fingers through his hair while I scrolled through my phone.

"So how are things with you and Matt?" Lance asked Shiro.

"What do you mean?" Shiro asked.

"I know about you two." Lance said, "Are you guys fighting or something?"

"Fighting?" Shiro asked.

"Yeah, he was asking me relationship advice at school today," Lance said.

"Relationship advice?" Shiro asked.

"Yeah, stop repeating the last thing I'm saying?" Lance said.

"I mean, we got into a bit of an argument over telling everyone the other night. I told him that we might as well tell everyone and he wanted to keep it a secret so we kind of argued over that. But we always just forget about it the next day." Shiro explained. 

"Maybe call him," I suggested.

"It would be better to tell him in person. He and Pidge will be here in a minute. Just talk to him in the hall or something. We'll give you some privacy. Pidge already knows about us anyways." Lance said.

"Ok," Shiro said nervously. "What did Matt say to you?"

"I don't know. It was a lot of 'Hypothetically speaking...' and he kept asking me what I would do in a 'Hypothetical situation'." Lance said.

"Okay...Okay. So it's not that bad then." Shiro said.

"Huh? Why do you say that?" I asked.

"He only uses the term 'Hypothetically' when he's a little worried. If he used 'Theoretically' then I would be worried." Shiro said.

"Now that I think about it, he did say something along the lines of 'In Theory'," Lance said.

"What?" Shiro said worriedly.

"I'm just kidding," Lance said. Shiro glared at him.

"Your evil," Shiro said. Lance laughed.

I pushed Lance off my lap. He fell onto the floor.

"Nuuuu! I was comfortable!" Lance complained. I rolled my eyes.

"You didn't eat any of my chocolate did you?" I asked, standing up.

"No. You said you would cut my dick off if I did." Lance said.

"What the fuck is going on with your guy's relationship?" Shiro asked.

"Your one to talk," I said as I grabbed a bag of chocolate covered gummy bears.

"Ew, those are gross." Lance said, "How can you eat those?"

"They're amazing," I said, eating a handful of them.

"How are you so skinny?" Lance asked. I rolled my eyes.

<><><><>

Matt and Pidge came in a while later. Matt and Shiro went to Lance's room to talk. Pidge and Lance were playing Mortal Combat. I attempted to lean on Lance's shoulder but he moved so much I ended up laying on the recliner watching them.

<><><><>

Allura, Coran, and Hunk came in a little while after Matt and Shiro worked things out. They still looked mad at each other, but they sat together anyways.

Once everyone was here and settled in the living room I took a deep breath. Lance squeezed my hand encouragingly.

"I...I have to tell you guys something.." Keith said.

"What is it, Keith?" Allura asked.

"I'm...not a real boy," Keith said without looking at them.

"O my God. You got the part in the Pinocchio play! I knew you could do it! I'm so happy for you." Hunk said. Pidge punched him.

"That's not what I meant." Keith said, "I mean that I...I was born a girl. I'm transgender."

"Oh. Wait, were we supposed to not know that because I kinda always thought you were trans anyways." Hunk said. Allura and Coran nodded.

"Yeah, I knew already as well. It seemed pretty obvious." Allura said.

"Wait, you all already knew?" I asked.

"I mean, I didn't know until the whole thing when I found out," Lance said.

"I found out at Allura's Halloween party," Matt said.

"So did I," Pidge said.

"And I kinda was suspicion but when you told me a while ago it was confirmed," Shiro said.

"So all of my fucking worrying bullshit was for nothing!?" I asked. Everyone laughed.

"Keith, even if we didn't know we would have accepted you anyways." Hunk said.

"Yeah, we love you no matter what," Lance said, kissing my cheek.

Everyone stared at us silently.

"Oh...that was the other thing...Lance and I are sort of dating..." I said.

Everyone, with an exception of Pidge, Lance, and Shiro, all started talking at once.

"When did this happen!?"

"Why didn't you tell me!?"

"Have you guys fucked yet!?

"Guys! Slow down. We'll explain everything." Lance said.

"First of all, we haven't fucked yet," I said.

"Yet," Lance said. I rolled my eyes.

"We started dating in October," I said.

"Yeah, but our first kiss was like, a few days before that. And we slept together once." Lance added.

"Not helping. He means literally sleeping...in the same bed." I said.

"There was some cuddling," Lance said.

"Not helping," I said.

I explained how Lance and I got together, Lance adding some unneeded information.

"I guess since they're coming clean. I might as well do this." Matt leaned over and kissed Shiro right on the mouth.

No one seemed phased.

"Let me guess, you all already knew," Shiro said 

"Yeah. You guys are old news. Now let Keith and Lance talk!" Pidge said.

I explained what happened after the mall trip and how Lance found out about me being trans. I also filled them in more on how my parents died, telling them how it was my fault.

"It wasn't your fault. Accidents happen." Lance said. He had his arm around my shoulders.

"I know," I said. Lance looked at me, surprised.

"I blamed myself for years. But I know now that it wasn't completely my fault." I said.

"So your house is still there?" Hunk asked.

"Yes. You can't really go upstairs anymore. I have to meet with my lawyer about what I'm going to do with the property." I said.

"Why are you upset about meeting with your lawyer?" Pidge asked.

"If I'm not living on the property then the bank will take it. Because it's in the condition it's in I can't prove that it's where I'm living." I said.

"Won't the bank pay you for it?" Hunk asked.

"Nope. And even if they did I wouldn't let them take it. It's my home. I was planning on moving into my mom's Garden shed until I could get enough money to rebuild the house but they wanted to take it as soon as I turned 18." I said.

"Then why haven't they taken it yet?" Matt asked.

"I haven't gone in to talk to my lawyer yet. They can't take it until I talk to my lawyer." I said.

"So when do you have to talk to your lawyer?" Shiro asked.

"At the latest, probably July 1st. Since I'm in school I can use that as an excuse, but once I finish my junior year and have had some time to get used to not having school for the summer and shit then I have to meet with my lawyer." I said.

"Then it's settled. We're going to help you rebuild the house." Lance said.

"What?"

"We're all going to help you rebuild it. So they won't take it." Shiro said.

"What?"

"I think you guys broke him," Pidge said.

"Keith We are going to help you rebuild your house," Matt said slowly.

"Yeah, I got that. But why? You guys don't have to help me." I said.

"Of course we're going to. We're your friends, no, were your family." Allura said.

"Th-Thanks guys," I said, on the verge of tears. Everyone hugged each other.

"Keith, are you crying?" Pidge asked.

"No...I'm not crying...your crying!" I said defensively.

Everyone laughed.

"We should all go out to eat somewhere. Like, someplace fancy." Matt said.

"Mcdonalds?" Lance suggested.

"I was thinking something like Panda Express," Matt said.

"Fuck yes," Pidge said.

"Language," Shiro said.

Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Come on. Let's just go."


	38. Chapter 38

______________________  
Several Months Later  
______________________  
Lance's Pov

"Did Keith text you yet?" Shiro asked.

"Yeah, they're on their way," I said.

"Is everything ready?" Shiro asked.

"According to Pidge, everything is good. Do you have the cake?" I asked.

"Yeah. Matt took it inside." Shiro nodded, "How long until they get here?"

"Like five minutes," I said.

"Good. You wait here for them." Shiro said, "We'll be on the porch waiting for you guys."

"Got it."

After Shiro ran back up the driveway to the house I waited by the mailbox. Keith, his lawyer, a realtor, and a bank representative pulled up to the start of the driveway. Keith was on the passenger side of his lawyer's car. The other two in a car behind them. Keith got out of the car.

"What are you doing here? I thought you had work today." Keith said.

I walked up to him, giving him a hug.

"I wanted to be with you today," I said.

"Well, it's not going to be that great. The House isn't finished, it's just going to be me signing papers over to the bank." Keith said sadly. I put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm always here for you. You know that right? Things will be ok." I said.

"Well, I'm just hoping that Mae will still let me stay there until I can get enough money to get an apartment," Keith said.

"You can stay with me if you want." I offered. Keith smiled.

"But there's only one room." He said.

"We can share." I said, "I don't bite. Unless you want me too."

Keith rolled his eyes.

"Come on. Let's just get this over with. I don't want to be here longer than I have to." Keith said. I got into the car with him and we drove down the road.

I had never met Keith's Lawyer before but Keith had told me about her before.

She seemed very professional, wearing a business suit. I mean, she just seemed like your average Lawyer.

"You must be Lance. I'm Keith's Lawyer, Joan." The woman said as I got in the car.

"Nice to meet you," I said.

"So Keith, you said you have been trying to fix the house," Joan asked.

"Yeah. But we didn't have enough time. The plumbing still doesn't work and we haven't even finished the kitchen or the back half of the house. Unless they believe that I've been living in a tent then I don't think they'll let me keep it." Keith said.

"Have you actually been living in a tent?" Joan asked.

"Yeah. But only for a week. Lance and I wanted to be able to work on the house. The drive is taking up time we could be using to fixing the house. Lance has some family who lives nearby who helps us. Usually Shiro, Matt, Hunk, Allura, Coran and Pidge also come out too." Keith said.

"I'm not sure that will be enough to sway the bank but be sure I'll be sure to mention it," Joan said.

As we got closer to the house, Keith seemed to get more and more nervous.

"The house doesn't look bad from here. It looks like the electricity is working." Joan said.

"It is? I don't remember doing anything with the electricity." Keith said. He looked back at me. I just shrugged and smiled.

Once we pulled up to the barn we parked. The other car pulled up next to us.

We all got out.

"Miss Kogane." The bank man started but Keith cut him off.

"It's Mr. Kogane-Shirogane." He said.

"Actually it's Kogane-Shirogane-McClain," I whispered. Keith rolled his eyes.

"Sorry. Mr. Kogane-Shirogane, we are going to inspect the house. If it appears that it is safe for you to stay here you may stay here. If it appears unsafe then the bank will take the property. As this property belonged to your birth mother her will states that your uncle will take the property if she happened to pass." The bank man said.

"Uncle? My uncle died before I was born." Keith said. 

"Because your uncle has passed as well then the house will go to you, so long as it's safe to live in, but we've gone over this before." The bank man said.

"Fine. Let's just get this over with." Keith said. I grabbed Keith's hand and squeezed it, reassuringly. He gave me a worried smile and we walked to the house.

We walked up the porch and into the house.

As soon as everyone was in the house Keith gasped.

____________  
Keith's Pov   
____________

The house was fixed. And it looked almost identical to how it looked when I was a child.

"It's...It's fixed...how?" I stuttered. I looked at Lance. He smiled.

"Did you..?"

"It wasn't just me." He said. I looked in the living room and say Pidge, Matt, Shiro, Hunk, Allura, Coran, Bianca, and a bunch of Lance's family members.

"You guys all helped? I can't believe it! I can't..." I stuttered. Lance hugged me.

"Is it all...?" I asked.

"Everything works. We made sure of it." Lance said.

"Thank you," I whispered. He kissed my forehead.

"Your welcome Keef." He whispered back.

<><><><>

Once the realtor cleared the inspection the bank said I could keep the house. My lawyer told me to meet her tomorrow morning for the details of the deed.

But for now, we had a cake, pizza, and plenty of other food.

I thanked everyone countless times.

It was almost midnight. Lance's family went home. It was just all of us.

"Friday sleepover at Keith's house." Pidge joked.

Lance and I were sitting on the front porch watching the stars.

"You can hardly see anything from here," Lance complained. I rolled my eyes.

"Come on, I have a place we can go," I said, taking his hand and leading him to the old water tower across the street.

We reached the ladder and started to climb. Lance seemed nervous.

As soon as we got top Lance was clinging to me.

"Are you afraid of heights?" I asked.

"Not exactly...I'm just afraid of falling. Plus, your warm" Lance said.

"It's ok. I've got you." I said, wrapping my arms around him.

"I love you, Keith," Lance whispered.

"I know," I said.

"Keeeeeeeith! You're supposed to say it back!" Lance whined.

"Say what back?" I asked innocently.

"Keeeeith!"

"Seriously, say what?"

"Keith! Say that you love me!"

"I like you."

"Keeeeeith, that's not good enough!"

"I admire you."

"Keeeeeeef!"

"I love...hanging out with you."

"Keef, your an ass," Lance said. I kissed him. He pushed me away.

"No, you don't get my love. Not until you say it." He said.

"I love you. Now love me back." I said.

"I can't hear you."

"I love you."

"What was that? Still can't hear you."

"Fine!" I yelled. "I fucking love you, Lance McClain! And I want everyone to know! I love you!"

"Hmmm, I guess that'll do," Lance said. I tackled him.

"Nooo! Don't tackle meee! I don't want to fall!" He whined.

"You'll be fine!" I said. He rolled over so that I was on top of him. He smiled.   
I kissed him.

"We're not going to fuck up here are we?" He asked, "Because it's really fucking cold up here."

My face went red.

"Laaance!" I said, embarrassed.

"What? I was just kidding!" Lance said.

"I'm going back to the house," I said.

"Nuuuu. Don't leave me!" Lance said.

"Then come with me, idiot," I called back, as I climbed down the ladder.

"Fine! Wait for me!" Lance yelled. I waited for him at the bottom of the ladder. Once he was about halfway down his foot slipped and he fell.

"FUCK!" He yelled. He landed on top me.

"Ow!" I complained.

"You caught me! My hero!"

"I think you broke my back," I complained.

"Can you walk?" Lance asked.

"I hurt."

"I'll carry you back to the house then." He said, he picked me up bridal style and carried me back to the house.

"Now you're supposed to say it," Lance said.

"My hero."

<><><><><>  
The End  
<><><><><>

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for reading. Don't worry, there's more gay on the way. I've got a Percico on the way and plenty more Voltron. 
> 
> So I started writing this around February, so as you can imagine when I finally finished editing this my reaction was FUCKING FINALLY
> 
> It's 11:46 AM and I've been editing all fucking night. So I'm really fucking tired. I'm going to try to get some sleep before I have to work.
> 
> So yeah, Thanks for reading. It's been a lot of fun working on this. I can't wait for my next Voltron fanfiction.


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